Aspar Ducati’s Eugene Laverty underwent the whole spectrum of emotion at the Silverstone MotoGP round, starting with a place in qualifying two on Saturday which went begging with an incorrectly-inflated rear tyre that ended in a crash after fastest times in the first two sectors.
On Sunday, the Monegasque opted for the soft tyre combination and it was Laverty wityh a great start who dived under Valentino Rossi at Vale to claim a surprise second. But for the red flag, rightly brought out in the aftermath of Loris Baz and Pol Espargaro’s frightening collision, the Irishman could have been on for a truly memorable day. As it was, Laverty collected just four points for twelfth.
“The first start was great. I got a few good overtakes and moved into second position and the bloody red flag comes out. But that’s how it goes. Because I made a good start I was up into fifth and then you only have a few guys around you. Then that’s racing. When you have ten guys around you it’s not. You have to be opening gas, closing gas, they’re hitting you,” Laverty said at the track on Sunday.
“That’s why on the first start I was able to pick my point, and pass Pedrosa, pass Cal, pass Rossi, whereas in the second one I was buried in the pack. There were guys hitting me left, right, and going crazy. I enjoyed racing at the front again. That’s where I prefer, although it only lasted half a lap.
“The second start, after one start, the clutch had cooked a little bit and didn’t feel the same. The bike jumped then and I tried to get some positions back but then Iannone hit me. I got hooked in with Lorenzo and lost a few positions. It wasn’t good.
“Ultimately that one with Bradl was huge. He hit the back of me and bust some things in the back of my bike. I had to reach down in and pull some things out like my rear mudguard so I could get on my way again. I could have done without that red flag.
“It’s four points. That’s what it comes down to. it was nice to show a glimpse of something special. It was good to show I had a shot at pole position. Then I was up to second in a MotoGP race. It was a weekend where I showed a few glimpses of even more potential. Two days in a row. That was nice. It would have been good if it all pieced together. That’s racing though. You can’t expect things to all fall into place for you.”