Marco Melandri confirmed he will replace Eugene Laverty in the factory Aprilia World Superbike team next season by lapping on the RSV4 today at Jerez.

The diminutive Italian, who is nursing a leg injury after tripping up some stairs (read falling off a motocross bike), has so far set a quickest lap of 1'43 at the Spanish track - which compares to Tom Sykes' fastest of 1'41.6.