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Donington BSB Test: 'One off lap pace' not perfect for Laverty

Tyco BMW’s Michael Laverty was the quickest rider on the combined timesheets during the official MCE British Superbike test at Donington Park today, but even though he is pleased with the progress that he is making with his race pace, and the impressive 1’29.298 that he put down this afternoon, he still feels that he has more to gain when it comes to his one-off lap pace.

Laverty set his fastest lap on a soft rear tyre today and after a few laps on the fresh tyre he was able to topple Be Wiser Ducati’s Shane Byrne from the top of the timing-screens, but the Northern Irishman is adamant that he and the bike have more to give.

He is content with the overall setting of his bike and how things have gone in pre-season testing, but still sees room for improvement. But Laverty is looking forward to the start of the season, next week at Silverstone and is feeling good ‘mentally and physically.’

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“To be honest I knew we had a little bit more left, whenever I put a new tyre in I kept on getting held up on the track in traffic and the third or fourth lap I managed to get a clean run and it was a good lap time, but there is still more left,” said Laverty, speaking to bikesportnews.com.

“I am not quite happy with the front end and there still a bit to gain with the rear so there is still some fine tuning to do. It has been a good day we have learnt a lot, and I didn’t expect to learn today, but we will not rest and we will keep working.

“I feel very ready to go next week at Silverstone and I think we have got a good setting with the bike and I am in a good place physically and mentally. The work we have done in the winter is paying off and we are showing that we are strong consistently with the hard tyre and with the soft tyre. I still want to gain more in a one lap pace to be ready for Q3 but my race pace is good.

“We used the soft rear [for the fastest lap] which I think will be the race tyre here to be honest. I did a bit earlier on today with the hard tyre and then changed to the soft, but I don’t feel I am getting the most out of it on the first couple of laps so definitely more to be had, but we will look through the data from today - it is always good to have room to improve and I think it will help us in the long run.”

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