Aprilia’s Eugene Laverty did his title chances the power of good in the second World Superbike outing when he out-did Englishman Tom Sykes to take the race-two victory at Assen today after making setup tweaks in between races.

After riding to the foot of the podium in race one Laverty took to the track for the second race extremely focused, and well motivated, not letting Sykes run away at the front and dominate like he had in the first race. The pair quickly pulled ahead of the pack, but the Irishman was never too far behind.

The gap between the two was never more than a few tenths of a second and four laps from the end Laverty made his move and then fought off Sykes' final assault in the last chicane, to take the victory. This win, combined with his fourth place finish in race one takes the Irish rider to second place in the standings, just behind team mate Sylvain Guintoli.

Laverty was pleased that he was able to keep up with the bearded Huddersfield racer, but initially he did not think he would be able to match the pace of the Kawasaki. As well as battling with Sykes, the Irishman had to contend with some windy conditions too.

“The little time we had with a dry track created a few problems in race one. In fact, before the second race we made some changes to the RSV4, which we usually don't do because of how risky that is. Actually the changes they made worked really well. I had the right feeling even though I didn't think I would be able to stay up with Sykes. But in the end I was able to keep up with his pace,” said the Aprilia rider.

“Four laps from the end I overtook Tom, even pulling away a few metres, but then the wind kept me from being too precise so he was able to cling back onto me. Winning today was important. We are back in the fight for the championship and we were able to leave the troubles from Aragon behind us.”