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Eugene Laverty had already won two races at Monza when he was with Yamaha in 2011 but on Sunday he was able to take his first for the Aprilia Racing Team. The win came at the same Portimao track where in October 2011 he had his first outing on the Aprilia RSV4 Factory machine. The Irishman scored the win at Portimao after leading lights to flag from a third place grid position following Tissot-Superpole, and holding off a last-ditch attempt by Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) who had closed the gap right up by the chequered flag.

With one round remaining, the two-time World Supersport runner-up now finds himself in sixth place in the standings on 241.5 points, while his Aprilia team now have one hand on the Manufacturers' crown in view of the final round at Magny-Cours at the end of next week.

"My first win with and for Aprilia came on my favourite track with a lot of my fans trackside, who I'd like to thank," said Laverty. "Grip in Race 2 wasn't perfect. I tried to push hard right away to gain an advantage and then I was able to maintain it to the end. This year we had some difficult moments, like we had in Race 1 today, but we're finally showing our potential with some good progress at the end of the season".

Eugene Laverty dedicated the win to the late Sean Hurley, an Irish rider who lost his life at the age of 25 in December 2011 in a tragic accident near Ballinhassig.