Samsung Honda's Michael Laverty goes into this weekend's Snetterton British Superbike round knowing he must get to grips with his season and score some big points before the title most people saw him winning before the first round was run at Brands Hatch slips away.

Laverty was easily the fastest man pre-season at Snetterton, setting the pace ahead of reigning champion Tommy Hill so he has the setup and data to make it a big points haul come Sunday and raise himself from 11th in the championship table.

“I need to get strong points and the season turned around in this round and have good base settings going into the meeting based on two good testing sessions at the circuit. The bike worked really well there on those occasions. We had pace at both Brands Hatch and Thruxton, but struggled a bit at Oulton Park and here it is important to get podium credits and points to be back at the sharp-end," said Laverty.

"It has been a topsy-turvy start to the season, the new technical rules and then the weather threw a spanner in the works with some dealing with the conditions better than others. My start is similar to that of last season so I am not panicking rather concentrating on getting back to the front.”