Aprilia’s Eugene Laverty will start on the second row for the World Superbike races at Imola tomorrow. This is a rarity for the Irishman as the last time he was not at the front was at Silverstone last year, and the rider has struggled with his race pace this afternoon.

Laverty was one tenth of a second slower team-mate Sylvain Guintoli in Superpole and both riders were not able to match the times set by Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes, Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea and Althea Racing’s Davide Giugliano who make up the front row. Laverty and his French team-mate take up fourth and fifth place on the starting grid, and for the Irish rider this means he will have to push hard to make an impact tomorrow.

"It's been since Silverstone last year that I haven't started from the front row, but it had to happen sooner or later. We've actually been struggling all weekend and we still need to improve in order to make a play for it with Rea and Sykes,” said Laverty.

“We have definitely improved throughout the sessions but I still don't have the bike that I'd like for the races tomorrow. I did the time that earned me fifth place with race tyres, so that means that if I push to the limit and take some risks I'll be able to shave almost a second off my pace. Unfortunately you can't do that for more than two laps".