Count-back denies Laverty podium

Eugene Laverty almost achieved his objective of scoring a podium finish at Silverstone, but would have to settle for fourth place at the end of a difficult weekend.

The Irishman came into the races with work to do after qualifying down in 14th position, but good starts in both races elevated him into the lead fight early on.

Dropping back during the late slippery phase of race one to finish an eventual tenth, Laverty fared better in the full-wet conditions of race two to run a lonely fourth initially, before seemingly rising to third when Jakub Smrz crashed further up the road.

However, with the ensuing red flag seeing Smrz reinstated on count-back, Laverty had to settle for fourth place, a result he was content with given the circumstances.

"In the first race we had a few problems, but the important thing was to finish and take some points home. In race two the set-up on my RSV4 wasn't working very well with damp asphalt, but when the heavens opened my pace increased as well.

"I recovered several positions and I could have improved even more but the race was called. The rules were enforced correctly, although I think they could have considered the next lap as they had done initially."