Invigorated Laverty aims higher
There was finally light at the end of the tunnel for Eugene Laverty and his Milwaukee Aprilia team after making a return to the front of the series at Brno. Early season expectation had turned to despair due to technical issues and injury, but after a rousing performance in the Czech Republic the Irishman is now confident of launching the RSV4 into rostrum contention next time out at Laguna Seca.
His 2018 season began with a series of unfortunate events, firstly a setup error followed by a crash out of the lead in Australia. In Thailand, Laverty was covered in fuel from the overflow bottle in one race, while in the other a front tyre issue caused the crash which resulted in a broken pelvis. This left him out of action for Aragon and Assen. Not only was the rider hurt, but so was the bike’s development. “Without the injuries we would have done much better,” acknowledges Laverty, who turned 32 just before Brno. “The bike was incredible at Phillip Island and Thailand.
“Without those problems we could have been on the podium here.” Brno brought a season’s best fourth in Race 2 and an improved mood with it, despite Aprilia missing out on the 250 rev increase granted to Honda, BMW and MV Agusta due to their better results thus far.
“The weekend was good considering we started poorly. We persevered with the new big tyre and I was horrendous on Friday because I had no rear grip. We kept working and got the bike balance changed to make the tyre work. I got faster and faster. Now the big tyre is working I’m confident I can fight for the podium at Laguna Seca. With the Aprilia, if the rear tyre works you are flying,” concluded Laverty.
‘I’m confident I can fight for the podium at Laguna’