Laverty satisfied after successful Portimao test

Eugene Laverty declared himself happy and ready to race after a strong two day test at Portimao this week. The Parkalgar Honda rider heads into the season finale at the Portuguese track trailing factory Yamaha rival Cal Crutchlow by 19 points making it mathematically possible to still become world champion.

Speaking to MCN from Portugal, Laverty said: “The test went well and by the end we did some good lap times. I got two hours of track time on Wednesday and three hours on Thursday, the weather was perfect and I was able to try a few things chassis wise that I wanted.

“The first time I rode the Parkalgar Honda was at Portimao and it was easy to feel the extent of the development we’ve made with the bike since last year. The general balance is much better, especially in the fast corners. I feel ready and I’m looking forward to the race.”

Team boss Simon Buckmaster was equally satisfied, not only at Laverty’s single lap pace but also his impressive consistency.

He said: “It was a really good test for us. Eugene’s fastest lap was a 1m 45.2s compared with last years pole which was a 1m 45.1s, but on the second day he did 27 laps all in the 45’s and that is great preparation for the race.”

Laverty’s team-mate Miguel Praia also had a good test with a best lap time of 1m 46.0s, 0.5s faster than his qualifying best from 2008.