Aprilia's Eugene Laverty has predicted he could reach huge top speeds on the works RSV4 World Superbike at Monza this weekend if his performances in testing at Motorland Aragon were anything to go by.

At the Spanish track, he saw a little under 210mph from his steed using a Monza-spec engine on a 0.9km straight. The longest period of flat-out-ness at the Italian is 1.1km so expect, with a good exit grunt, to see that topped this weekend.

The Irishman has also taken a step forward with the corner entry problems he has experienced so far this year and if he can have a bit more luck in Superpole, he could emulate the 2011 meeting where he did the double.

"Having limited testing during the winter meant that we were still learning the bike and a corner entry problem was really highlighted at the Italian circuit. We’d suffered the same issue at Portimao at the tail-end of last year but at Imola it really hindered the lap time. Nevertheless we left with two top six finishes which is pretty solid for a bad day at the office," said Laverty.

"Fortunately we had a test at Imola the day after the race which couldn’t have come at a better time. The first adjustment we tried on Monday all but fixed the front end problem so I felt much more at ease following the test.

"So far this season we’ve qualified 11th, 11th and 14th so it’s pretty clear where we need to improve! I left Assen content with a fifth and third place finish because I really had to work hard for those points. I got the chance to ride many laps on a wet track at Assen and I was pleasantly surprised by the feedback given from the supposedly-rigid Aprilia chassis.

"In the dry condition the bike felt a step better than previous races so I’m optimistic of our chances at Monza. The Aprilia isn’t lacking in the horsepower department which should see us reaching huge speeds at the end of the Monza straights."