Aprilia’s Eugene Laverty has come away from the World Superbike championship a very happy rider after doing the double and taking not one but two race victories this afternoon at Jerez. But the rider is pleased that he has shown everyone that he has the ‘potential’ to challenge for race wins and be successful.

In race one Laverty got the best of GoldBet BMW’s Marco Melandri with an extraordinary pass on the outside in the last turn after having led the entire race until two laps from the end when the Italian overtook him. It looked like it was all over but Laverty dug deep and found the winning move – on the final turn.

In the second race Laverty followed Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes who tried to pull the pin straight away, keeping him in check from behind and always demonstrating great confidence in his skills and the strength of his RSV4. Eight laps from the finish he made the decisive attack and then pulled away to win his ninth race of the season by a decent margin.

“Those were two very different wins today. The second one was definitely easier because I was able to create a gap in front of Tom after overtaking, whereas in race one the battle took place all within a few metres. I’m quite pleased with this double win” said Laverty.

“It’s a result that confirms our potential along with the string of podiums at the end of the season. It’s a shame we lost some important points at the beginning of the year, but I don’t like to whinge or make excuses. In any case finishing second in the rider championship with more wins than the rest is an excellent result and so is the Manufacturer Title for Aprilia.”