Laverty: “In the first six laps the damage was done already”

Eugene Laverty (Pull&Bear Aspar Team) found the going tough at the start of the Malaysian GP, as a torrential shower following the Moto2™ race left the track soaked for the MotoGP™ grid – and even delayed the start of the race. Once the lights went out, Laverty struggled under braking with a lot of water on track – then found much better speed as the track dried. Fighting back up to twelfth, the Irishman found the pace of the frontrunners but was unable to bridge the gap before the flag.

Eugene Laverty (P12): “I'm disappointed in myself because at the start I didn't ride so good. I didn't have a good feeling with the bike when there was a lot of water, I didn't have confidence. Mainly I was losing in the braking. When the track wasn't so wet my lap times were fantastic, my pace was fast like the guys at the front, so it is disappointing that I lost so much in the first six laps or so because the damage was done already. I came through strong to move up to twelfth and I was catching the group in front but unfortunately there wasn't enough laps remaining to catch them and fight for maybe seventh or eight. It's a missed opportunity but in the end the bike was good today.”