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In just a few days, Eugene Laverty went from MotoGP to SBK. Or rather, in the space of a few days, the Northern Irish rider, after two seasons in the Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing World Championship astride Honda and Ducati MotoGP bikes, has returned to the saddle of the Aprilia RSV4 with which the thirty year old from Toome already raced in the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
The first test with team Milwaukee was disrupted by heavy rains that, with the addition of less than summery temperatures, made the Jerez track truly difficult and not very indicative for drawing any solid and precise conclusions.
Eugene, however, comes from a country where there is almost never a lack of rain and cold and, as he himself said on his Facebook profile, he is already quite satisfied: “I felt very good: despite the fact that we only did 20 laps because it was wet, I was fast; my lap time was fast in these conditions, maybe not even that far off the dry lap times because the asphalt here at Jerez is very grippy. I’m surprised at how quickly I felt at home.”
Eugene quite liked the work method he found with the Milwaukee team and Aprilia personnel: “It’s been great working with the team today. I was really blown away at just how professional the Aprilia technicians are: they really know the bike well and we just jelled right away and were able to click on day one.”
Communication between Laverty and his new garage mate, Lorenzo Savadori began even before they got out onto the track: “Yesterday evening Lorenzo and I spoke about how the bike I rode in the past was and how it was for him in his first SBK season and it was interesting to compare notes. Overall, today went well despite the rain, but we’ll be looking for some dry tracks where we can do some laps in good weather and track conditions.”
Eugene also has some rather clear ideas on the work that needs to be done on the RSV4: “in wet conditions like today the bike is already in the ballpark; after 20 laps the RSV4 is already doing the lap times where we need to be. Now we just need to get some work in to see how the bike performs when conditions are dry.”
