BSB: Michael Laverty: 'Worst race of my life'

Michael Laverty endured a nightmare weekend to walk away from the fourth round of the 2016 MCE British Superbike Championship with a solitary eighth place.

The Tyco BMW rider had shown impressive pace in the dry throughout the weekend but was unable to match this in wet conditions for qualifying, leaving him 11^th on the grid for Sunday’s first race.

Fighting through the pack, Laverty was one of the fastest men on track as he made his way towards the sharp end only to collide with John Hopkins on the exit of the hairpin while fighting for third. Running on to the gravel, the Toomebridge rider re-joined the race in 14^th place before moving up to eighth when crossing the line.

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As the rain poured down for the second race, Laverty knew he faced a tough challenge but it got even tougher as water leaked underneath his visor reducing his visibility to practically nothing. Determined to stay out, he was eventually lapped by his leading rivals.

“I was having a good opening race, making my way through in a comfortable fashion,” he said. “The tangle with Hopper cost me the chance of a race win and my laps over the rest of the race were faster than anyone.

“The second race was possibly the worst race of my life, from the second lap I just couldn’t see. Water started coming in between the pinlock and the visor and it was like riding in the dark. I didn’t want to pull in so I persisted in the hope of getting a point or two but it was quite unsafe with the vision I had. I tried to stay out of the way and bring it home.

“Even with vision I didn’t have much grip or confidence to open the gas where everyone else could, we need to work on our wet set-up. Not the weekend I was hoping for after having such good pace.”