In 2015 Eugene Laverty scored his best result of the year in Barcelona when he crossed the line in 12th. It is testament to how far he has come that he now considers 12th place his baseline, aiming for the top ten. Mugello was the first race of the season where he finished lower than 12th place, ending up 13th after a tough weekend. Laverty’s out to get back inside the top ten at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, a track which he feels will suit his Aspar Team MotoGP Ducati. The GP14.2 has always been strong under brakes, hard braking needed in multiple areas of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, especially into Turn 1.
36 championship points have the Irish rider sitting 10th in the standing, ahead of the factory Ducati of Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team). He also holds third in the Independent Team rankings, 12 points behind Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3). It’s going to be tough to stay inside the top ten with a number of riders coming strong after several races, but Laverty has the consistency and speed to make them work all season for it.
Eugene Laverty: “In Barcelona I think we can be really strong because this bike is so good under braking. Also the rear grip is now good so in Barcelona I think we can take another step and my goal will be to finish inside the top ten again. We have come off the back of one of our most difficult weekends having salvaged some points, thanks partly to some crashes for other riders, which keeps our run of points-scoring finishes going, but I expect this weekend to be more like Jerez where we scored a genuine top ten. This bike, my feeling with this bike and my riding style will be a good combination for this track.”