Aprilia’s Eugene Laverty chose not to take any risks, or push too hard in the World Superbike qualifying practice sessions at Donington Park today, because of the adverse weather conditions.

The Irishman opted to stay in the garage for the duration of the first free practice session. But a glimmer of rain-free weather, on the other hand, convinced the team to tackle the difficult qualifiers in the afternoon to begin the usual work of collecting information on which to base their strategies tomorrow.

The session, held on an almost completely dry track, was marked by a few light rain showers that kept the riders from putting any noteworthy times on the boards. Laverty finished with the ninth fastest time in qualifying practice, but team-mate Sylvain Guintoli managed to improve and set the fourth fastest time.

Laverty is now focusing on tomorrow’s sessions, to make up for the time lost today, but even though he did not get a lot of track time today, what he did do has proved useful.

“Very British weather, no doubt about it. In the second session the track wasn't in the best conditions, with a few rain showers and some spots that were still wet, so we didn't push to the limit,” said Laverty.

“The information we were able to gather was still useful, especially in terms of electronics settings, which will be helpful to set up our work tomorrow on the RSV4. Let's hope the forecast is right and we can lap on a dry track.”