Laverty looks back and looks forward
For 2012 he will embark on a whole new adventure, as team-mate to Max Biaggi in the official Aprilia entry. We caught up with him to speak of 2011 and his plans for 2012.
You were very fast, under the lap record, when you first tested the Aprilia in Portimão. How does it feel?
I didn't spend too much time on the bike, from nine o'clock to three o'clock on the Tuesday after the race. I was able to go very fast, very quickly, a little bit like I did last year on the Yamaha. I went fast on the Yamaha the first time I rode it as well, but this time I was under the lap record.
What do you expect from the next test?
In the Portimao test at the end of November I'm going to work with the mechanics that I planned to work with for next year. The first test was just with some of the Aprilia guys. I look forward to get a little bit of work done and get a better understanding of the bike; we were already fast in Portimao so I'm looking forward to it.
What was the biggest challenge you got racing a 1000cc bike in 2011?
Mainly I had to learn the chassis a lot, because there are so many things you can change. In the middle of the season we had some problems with wheelies. In the end it was a chassis problem. I had never encountered this problem before; normally I raced a bike with 140bhp the bike doesn't want to wheelie everywhere so that was a new learning curve for me.
You finished fourth (almost third) in the championship and you showed you could be very consistent. Is that the way you feel about it too?
The important thing for me was to be consistent, I didn't want to come in as a rookie, win one race and finish second and then finish seventh. I wanted to learn. I was not in a rush as I knew it was going to be a learning year. In the end I did a good job I think next year I can step it up.
