Parkalgar Honda's Eugene Laverty reckons that he must beat title rival Cal Crutchlow again this weekend in order to claw back some of the points he has lost to the Yamaha man earlier in the season.

The young Irishman is coming off the back of a victory at Kyalami and it will be the first time he has seen the Salt Lake City track but Laverty doesn't think that this will hamper him this weekend.

“This is the first time for all of the Supersport riders at the Miller Motorsports Park track, apart from Kenan Sofuoglu who rode a Superbike there last year. I don’t think it will give him any real advantage – both he and Andrew Pitt tested at Kyalami before the race but it didn’t seem to give an advantage there," said Laverty.

"We’ll see how it goes this weekend, the last lot of races have been won by Cal Crutchlow or myself and I need to reel him back in and close the points gap in the Championship. Everything is working really well with my Parkalgar Honda and we are learning all the time and getting more from the chassis.

"We caught up with Cal and his bike package at Kyalami and could run the same lap times but we are not resting on our laurels, we are still moving forward. I think Cal will be at the front in the USA and I need to beat him this weekend. I also think the Ten Kate Hondas want to be at the front so will be a force to be reckoned with as well.”