As the dust settles around the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, circuit ambassador Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) secured fourth position in the second race of the weekend, making it his best result of 2017 so far.

Securing a front row start in Superpole on Saturday, he had a tough race one as he finished in seventh position despite an early battle up at the front. However race two was a stronger one for the Irish rider, and he was happier that he was able to keep his grip for longer in the 20 lap race. With a lot of work to do at the test on Monday, the 31 year old remains hopeful they can come to a conclusion of the problems they have been encountering since Donington Park.

“It was much better than race one,” begins Laverty. “I was able to put up a fight and was strong at the start, and luckily we didn’t drop off as early, some changes we made to the bike last night meant that we could fight a little bit more but we still dropped off to the end. However we expected that and we are still reducing the gap to the top and that’s the most important thing. We were having issues with the rear tyre, just making it work. It looks ok at the end of the race but it’s hard to stop the bike and with acceleration.”

Follow all the WorldSBK testing action with the VideoPass as Laverty begins to work on his RSV4 RF, with the hope of finding some solutions to the issues he is encountering.