Laverty: “It’s not as scary as I thought”

New Sterilgarda Yamaha signing Eugene Laverty got his first ever ride on a World Superbike today at Magny Cours and told MCN it wasn’t as scary as he though it would be.

With overnight rain and intermittent showers this morning, Laverty and the team waited patiently for the track to dry in an effort to give him his first ride in the dry. But with the track still wet they finally elected to go out after lunch on full wet tyres before being able to switch to an intermediate front and slick rear at the end of the day.

Laverty’s day wasn’t only affected by the wet weather, he also suffered two breakdowns which robbed him of valuable track time.

He said: “I managed to get a good understanding of the bike. In the wet it only felt a little more than a 600, but on my last exit with the track a lot drier they gave e all the power and I felt the real nature of the beast.

“It wasn’t as I expected, it wasn’t as scary as I thought it was going to be. I thought with the way that the power is produced it was going to be a real weapon, but they’ve done so much work on the bike and the electronics are so advanced its smooth. The throttle connection is smooth but I appreciate it will all change as I get up to speed.”