Laverty to join Biaggi at Aprilia
The revelation of the 2011 world Superbike season has found a new home at Aprilia, as the jockeying for seats in the 2012 title starts to draw to a closeIrishman Eugene Laverty will compete in the 2012 Superbike World Championship as part of Aprilia's factory team alongside Italian Max Biaggi.
The 25-year-old replaces Briton Leon Camier at Aprilia, and at a recent Portimao test session he immediately demonstrated an extraordinary feeling with his new RSV4 machine by setting the quickest time.
“That felt pretty good,” said Laverty. “When I first rode it, it felt small and I noticed how much I could move around the bike. We had to make some changes, from the base setting that Aprilia has. We had some chatter and some harshness and we really worked through a lot really and by the end we had all but fixed all the problems we had.
“Everything I had heard about the Aprilia was a little bit scared of the rigidity, the lack of engine brake but it was no problems at the end of me. For me the engine brake was fine and I thought there would be less. I was looking forward to riding this bike and it has really impressed me.”
Laverty, who finished fourth in the 2011 title in his debut season, had to start looking for another gig after his former employer Yamaha announced it was withdrawing its factory support from the championship.
Laverty’s 2011 team-mate Marco Melandri has also found a new home at BMW alongside Briton Leon Haslam.
The 2012 WSBK title will commence at Phillip Island from February 24-26. Click on the following link for more information, including ticketing.
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