Factory Yamaha rider Eugene Laverty was forced into tyre management in the second World Superbike race at Miller Motorsport Park after his rear Pirelli fell to pieces in the opening encounter.

The Toomebridge man mucked up a gear change early in the first encounter and then his back tyre destroyed itself so, in race two, Laverty sat behind Max Biaggi for fourth to take home a good points haul instead of crashing or having to pit in.

“I managed to get a great start off the line in both races and maintain my starting position into the first curve. In race one I made a mistake changing the gears which caused me to drop back to 15th. I climbed up to second by mid race but then I began to suffer from extreme tyre wear," said Laverty.

"We improved the chassis setting before race two and I was a lot more cautious with the tyre. I was sitting in third place from early on but I didn’t want to push too hard in on Max to ensure the tyres would last to the end. I’m quite happy having finished fifth and fourth in the two races and I’m now fourth in the standings, which I’m pleased with.”