Ireland's Eugene Laverty made massive improvements to his lap times during this afternoon's dry session during the official World Superbike tests in Portugal.

The Toomebridge man hauled himself up to sixth fastest, and only half a second down on quickest man Joan Lascorz. Laverty was able to follow his Parkalgar Honda team-mate Miguel Praia around for a few laps at his home circuit.

“Thank you to Miguel for giving me a tow for a couple of laps, it really helped me to get to grips with the track,” explained Laverty. “I tried two different fork settings settings and found a big improvement. It has been a good day and now I am within touching distance of the front runners I am much happier.”