PBM’s Michael Laverty took his best MotoGP finish of the season at Sepang, ending in 12th place and now ties with team-mate Broc Parkes on nine points in the championship standings.

The Irishman added to his total from Phillip Island in what he described as one of the toughest weekends ever as a crash in free practice three meant his number one bike wasn’t available for qualifying.

"That's points two weekends in a row. Thanks to a great job by all the team, I crashed my preferred bike in FP3 putting us on the back foot throughout Qualifying and morning warm up but the boys had my number one bike back to its best for the race,” said Laverty.

“I didn't have the grip in the early laps to go with Petrucci but I was able to keep my pace consistent throughout and caught back up to him and gapped Di Meglio. It was possibly the toughest race I've ever done due to the heat and humidity so I feel an extra satisfaction that I managed to secure my best MotoGP finish to date."