Eugene Laverty has confirmed that he has quit the Blusens Aprilia 250GP team in a bid to secure a World Supersport ride in 2009, a quest that will have been aided by his fine podium finish at Vallelunga.

Laverty has struggled to make an impression in 250GP as he is forced to cope with dated machinery, but accidents at Misano and Indianapolis, the latter of which injured his feet, were considered the final straw for the Irishman.

As such, he has taken the immediate decision to leave the team so he can concentrate on reviving his career in World Supersports.

“On Thursday I decided to part company with my 250 team Blusens Aprilia,” he said. “I had high hopes of a strong second half to my season but promised parts didn't arrive and following big crashes in Misano and Indianapolis I realised things weren't going to get any better.

Luckily for Laverty, his performance in Italy over the weekend means he looks increasingly likely to be on the Supersport grid in 2009.

Fighting back from seventh on the grid, Laverty ran as high as second before dropping to an eventual third, but while he was criticised by Andrew Pitt following their collision, the Yamaha rider has labelled the podium as the 'best day of his career'.

“This has been the best day of my career,” he added. “All considered it was unbelievable, when I moved into 2nd place it really didn't register for me as I was only focused on going forward. My injured feet had been causing me a lot of aggravation throughout practice so for today I went to the Clinica Mobile and they resolved my problems!

“I almost went down when Andrew Pitt hit into me but somehow I managed to stay upright. Today was a great insight into what next year will be all about. My result today proves that I made the right decision and I'm so pleased to be back on the podium.”

Laverty was originally due to compete in two races for Yamaha, in place of the injured Fabien Foret, so it remains to be seen whether they extend his contract to include the final two races in France and Portugal.