Laverty impresses with Yamaha World Superbike test debut at Magny Cours

The second day of the two day test at Magny Cours today saw the Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team’s 2011 rider Eugene Laverty enjoying starkly contrasted weather to yesterday’s rain. Clear blue skies, sunshine and warm track temperatures allowed the new Yamaha rider the perfect opportunity to settle in to his YZF-R1 Superbike, completing 118 laps over the morning and afternoon sessions. The team were impressed to see his times drop progressively over the day, ending with a fastest lap time of 1’38.7 seconds, the fastest rider of the test. “A great first test on the Yamaha,” said Eugene Laverty. “I really surprised myself, it’s not often I exceed my own expectations as I’m very realistic normally. I really didn’t expect to go quite as quick or feel quite as comfortable so soon. I didn’t want to do anything silly and give the team the wrong impression so have just been taking it step by step learning the bike. I thought I would have to do more laps to get a good feeling but felt pretty good by lunchtime today. To have a good base leaving the first test and got over the nervousness is great. The team has made me feel very welcome; the working relationship is great so I’m looking forward to continuing into the race season next year.” Frankie Carchedi, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Crew Chief for Eugene Laverty “Once again Eugene has exceeded our expectations. We reached our targets very early in the day and were able to make various changes to the bike through the afternoon session to suit Eugene’s riding style. His feedback was very precise which helped us in tuning the set up quickly to adapt to his riding preferences. I’m very excited about getting to our next test where our target is to test the 2011 bike.” Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team “I think it has been an impressive test, especially his calm approach. I think as a first test his integration into the team was really good. It seems that he was riding his bike already and he was able to be very consistent with really good lap times straight away in both wet and dry conditions, this gives me a lot of confidence for next year. In the end I don’t feel we could have expected a better test result, it has been a very positive two days.”