Ireland's Michael Laverty scored his first ever AMA Superbike podium at Road America yesterday, crossing the line just four seconds behind winner and runaway series leader Mat Mladin in a soaking wet race.

Laverty, who was on the Celtic Suzuki, charged up from the third row of the grid and used his experience of wet-weather riding to set the fastest lap of the race in only his fourth AMA Superbike start of the year.

"A lot of people in the American paddock don't know who I am yet," Laverty said. "That's the biggest result from this is people might realize I can ride a bit. I'm over the moon. We've got a new bike this weekend, and we've been getting it better in the dry every session. I think I've got the pace for, probably, top five in the dry. It was nice today in the wet with a bit of a leveler. I was able to just keep plugging away.
 
"If I hadn't gotten such a bad start, I probably could have raced Mat for the win, but I just had to come back through from 11th. By the time I got through to second, he already had quite a gap. It was a bit frustrating from that point of view, with the win being so close, but at the end of the day, Mat is one of the best Superbike riders in the world and I was pushing him pretty hard towards the end. I even pushed him into a bit of a mistake. It's been a good race, and hopefully if it rains tomorrow, I can repeat the performance or even go one better."