Michael Laverty couldn't decide whether he was happy or disappointed with second position on the grid at
Mallory Park after just missing out on a maiden pole position.
The reigning British Supersport Champion was already raising eyebrows in the early stages of qualifying as he battled for a spot on the front row, but few expected him to go even better and nearly score pole position.
Indeed, after shooting to the top of the timesheets with ten minutes remaining, Laverty came within ten seconds of making it a first pole for both himself and the Relentless Suzuki squad, only for Tom Sykes to edge him with his last gasp effort.
Still, Laverty's headline grabbing performance is still a breakthrough one for both himself and the team in their rookie season of racing at British Superbike level.
With that in mind, Laverty was mostly delighted to be mixing it with the factory-backed outfits, even if he admitted to being gutted when he was bumped down to second.
“I think I'm getting greedy! I haven't had a front row all year and then I was sitting on pole position, so I was a bit gutted to get knocked off on the last lap,” he told
Crash.net Radio.
“I crossed the line myself with 15 seconds to go, so I thought I had it in the bag. Then when I came back round again, the pit board said P2, so I was a bit disappointed. But a front row is what counts round here.”
“It's good for the team because we have been building every race and getting strong, so now I think we are in a position where we can challenge the factory bikes. So I'm chuffed!
His performance did get the attention of Sykes though, who, while admitting he wasn't too sorry about edging him, praised him for leading the challenge.
“I don't feel too sorry for him,” the pole sitter said. “That's just the way the game goes, but he was riding well and it is a front row start for him, so he will be happy!”
