Eugene Laverty says a win and a second place from the opening round of the 2013 World Superbike Championship is just reward for the painstaking work undertaken by himself and his Aprilia Racing team in the run up to the first event of the season.
Laverty and new Aprilia team-mate Sylvain Guintoli were dominant on their RSV4s over the course of the day, between them leading all but the opening lap of the second race as they each completed a 1-2 finish.
A fine start to life for Aprilia without its two-time champion
Max Biaggi at the helm, Laverty firmly believes that the meticulous preparations for the first event were key to the his success, not least the 1min 31.168secs lap he achieved on the penultimate lap of the second race – four tenths faster than anyone else.
“We got off on the right foot and all the work from the past few days has paid off,” he said. “My Aprilia was fast and it performed as I wanted it to from the first to the last lap. In race one I may have been a bit too conservative with the tyres, still taking a nice second place, but in race two I pushed a bit more decisively.
“At the end, when it was Sylvain, Melandri and me, I tried and was able to get away, shaving a few more tenths off my pace.
“The track record two laps from the finish was nice confirmation that we turned up to the races in the best possible conditions. 45 points after the first race are some nice spoils. I've never started a season this well and now we'll be thinking about Aragon and how to stay on this path.”
The results puts Laverty equal with Guintoli at the top of the overall standings.