Michael Laverty expected better in first British GP

Michael Laverty started and finished his first British MotoGP race in 19th position, the PBM rider admitting that he’d anticipated being closer to challenging for a points scoring finish in front of a record crowd at Silverstone.

The Irishman did claim the honour of beating teammate Yonny Hernandez for the first time in his rookie season but a lack of confidence to push hard in the early laps once again blunted his challenge for a second top 15 finish of the season.

Laverty, who is racing Paul Bird’s British-built PBM frame powered by an Aprilia ART motor, told MCN: “This weekend Yonny was with me and I had a bit of a battle with him.

“In the mid-point of the race he was actually holding me up and then I tried a few passes on him, but he can brake quite late on the ART and he could get back past and mess us up quite a bit.

“But then I got past with two laps to go and was able to drop him a bit. I did my fastest lap of the race on the last lap, and felt I rode well over the second half of the race, but by that point the guys I should be battling with had already gone.

“So we need to get some solutions to be able to push the bike harder early on in the race, then we’ll be able to step forwards.

“It’s frustrating. It’s the reality of where we are at the minute with the bike and the package. On a fast track like this we’re a minute and 30 seconds down. On a slow track we’re thirty seconds off the win, and I’m still the same gap off the other CRTs, so we need to figure something out to get closer.

“There’s a wall in front of us and we need some answers if we’re going to get over it. I think the team is fairly positive and it’s nice to beat your teammate even when he’s on a better bike than you.

“He’s on a proven package and I feel like I rode quite well, but people only look at the result. You get a bit of personal satisfaction out of it when you ride well but it’s not the result I wanted.”