Laverty sees SBK potential in 2011

Article from http://www.worldsbk.com/en/news/5-news/6776-laverty-sees-sbk-potential-in-2011.html

Not every top Supersport rider has been able to make the jump to the Superbike World Championship class when given the opportunity, but at the first time of asking Eugene Laverty almost stuck himself in a podium place at Phillip Island. WorldSBK.com asked the Irish rider what his thoughts were about taking part in his first ever WSBK race, and what he hopes for next in his rookie season as a Yamaha World Superbike factory rider.

Now the dust has settled, what do you think of your first WSBK experience?

"I think the best way to put it is that I was satisfied with our potential. I did not realise until Sunday just what that potential was. I thought on Saturday all of the other guys were stronger than they actually were. But on Sunday I realised that some were not just as strong. Personally, I was not very comfortable in the races because I did not quite get the setting to ride the bike the way I want, but the fact that we were fighting for a podium finish in race one was very positive."

Your team-mate Marco Melandri did get a podium in race two, so how do you feel about that?

"I was actually happy to see the pace that Marco had on Sunday in race two because we had both been struggling with the same problems all weekend and we were on each other's pace in race one. I left the bike pretty much the same after race one, just in case we made a change for the worse between races. I did not want to risk anything and we left the bike the way it was. But Marco and his guys made an improvement so it was good to see the step they were able to make. Marco and I give very similar feedback, comments and everything, so it was a positive thing for me that they made a step and I know that we can make that step too."

Your team's good results contrasted with the Yamaha experience of 2010 at Phillip Island. So how much different is the bike you rode in Australia compared to the one you first rode at Magny-Cours last year?

"The bike is not a huge amount different from the way it was then, but now the mass is more centralised. That is the only major change from my first Magny-Cours test. In terms of Phillip Island this year compared to last year, there have been massive improvements. The bike is much more useable now. They took the development of the bike in a good direction last year and Marco and I are benefitting from it. The changes to the bike have worked for race distance. It was possible with the 2010 bike to still be there over the race distance, but at certain tracks like Phillip Island the bike you had at the start of the race and the end of the race were two completely different ones. Now the bike does not change as much and it is important to have the same from the bike along the course of the race."

Have you noticed any difference in the publicity and attention you have received now you are a Superbike rider, compared to being a WSS rider?

"Even at Phillip Island there were a lot more fans around, even last weekend at the Dublin Motorcycle Show I got massive amounts of attention there. So more fans are becoming more aware of what I am doing. WSS is the feeder class, WSBK is the bigger one in our paddock, so it is natural that more people will associate themselves with that."