At the GEICO US Round on Sunday Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) made amends for his Race 1 DNF with a solid sixth place in front of the Californian crowds at Laguna Seca.

Lining up in P10 after his Saturday retirement, Laverty made a good start and took the fight to his rivals, battling hard with Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) and Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) as he made his way through the field. After passing Leandro Mercado (IODARacing) on Lap 4 for seventh, he began to chase down Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team) before the Spanish rider crashed out at Turn 1.

Finding a comfortable groove with his Aprilia RSV4 RF he was chasing Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team) in fifth place, but ran out of laps before he could make his move.

“It was a positive result considering that we had to start from P10, and the reverse grid rules didn't help us this time,” said the Irishman. “I had some good scraps and I felt pretty comfortable on the bike.”

He added, “The big improvement was the front tyre; on Saturday there was some problem with it that wasn't normal, but today it functioned correctly and I was able to push a lot more.”

“Perhaps fifth would have been on the cards if we'd started higher, but I still think that was our best race of the year. Heading to the test at Lausitzring we have a good basis from here to work with. The improvement on the front was a big benefit as we showed here in Free Practice, and our aim is to take another big forward step with the RSV4 RF.”