Swan Yamaha's Michael Laverty has said the monkey is now off his back following yesterday's British Superbike race one win at Thruxton and he is now inside the top six for the end-of-season Showdown.

The Irishman rode a steady race in the first outing, working his way through the field in mixed conditions before taking the lead at half-distance and never looking back. He settled for points in race two as visibility was so poor in the spray.

"It has been a good day for me with the win in the first race and I felt comfortable but knew I still needed to be cautious as I couldn’t afford to make a mistake. It feels like the monkey is off my back now as I had put pressure on myself to get that win and now it is in the bag and I am inside the top six," he said.

"In race two I had a front row start but the visibility wasn’t good and I settled for points rather than risk a crash as I had a few moments out there. We have scored some good points today and finally got some of those podium credits."