Having arrived at Laguna Seca with the minimum of expectations, even being able to run in free practice seemed like a miracle for Eugene Laverty.
Instead, the Irish rider showed yet more of the courage and passion he had demonstrated at Donington the previous, enduring the pain throughout the weekend and not even skipping a session.
The Californian Sunday opened with a conservative and somewhat problematic Warm-Up for Eugene. The new solutions tried on the back of Saturday’s work, in order to help him in riding, did not give the desired results.
No sooner had the Superpole Race started than it was red flagged, following the crashes of Bautista, Delbianco and Beach. There were thankfully no physical consequences for the riders involved, but everything to be redone over the 8 laps distance. Eugene tried to be conservative from the perspective of Race 2, avoiding the risks of a race that assigns half points and benefits only the first nine.
In the end he took his V4-R to fourteenth position, maintaining a steady pace.
Race 2 started with great uncertainty: completing the second race of the day (25 laps), after having raced only a few hours earlier for 8 laps, would be a significant challenge.
Nonetheless Eugene, stoic and determined, set a pace in line with his direct rivals and even made overtakes towards the end, eventually taking twelfth place. A solid result following his eleventh on Saturday in race 1.
Eugene Laverty:
“We finished the weekend in a good way! To overtake two riders in the last part of the race was a nice surprise because I expected to go backwards at that point. So, eleventh position yesterday and twelfth today, but in reality today was the best race. It’s nice to ride my bike again even if I am not in perfect conditions. I am happy to start the summer break, recover 100% and come back fighting for the podium in Portimao.”