BSB: Laverty out to prove a point after missing Showdown

Michael Laverty left Oulton Park with a bitter taste in his mouth after missing out on a spot in the top six Showdown for the first time in his British Superbike career. 

Since the Showdown’s introduction in 2010, Laverty has been one of the six title fighters in each year he’s competed in the domestic series but his run would come to an end after yet another tough round at Oulton Park. 

The Northern Irishman has seriously struggled for pace since taking victory in the second race at Thruxton in July and he’d pay the price this weekend as he slipped out of showdown contention. 

His weekend didn’t get off to the best of starts after tyre issues in the first race saw him outside the top ten before being able to claw back a few places to finish eighth, but disaster would strike on Sunday as he hit the deck on the final lap of the second race. 

The crash left him 16^th on the grid for the third and final outing and despite a valiant charge to fourth it wasn’t quite good enough for the Tyco BMW man with Showdown rival Luke Mossey crossing the line in second. 

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“That was all I had,” a dejected Laverty told MCN after the race. “We improved the bike for the second race and I knew I had to hang it on the line! The front was moving all over the place; I was nearly off the thing a load of times but I rode a good race. Unfortunately I just didn’t have enough to get to Mossey.

“It’s frustrating as I know I can be competitive at Donington and Assen but we’re not in the title fight any more so it’s a bitter pill to swallow. We’ve had too many cock ups this year, when we’ve been fast enough to score big points and quite simply struggling for pace these last few rounds.”

It was an equally frustrating weekend for his Tyco BMW team-mate Christian Iddon, who was also ruled out of a showdown spot after a crash in the opening race. 

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