Cycle News

VOL. 51 ISSUE 40 OCTOBER 7, 2014 P31 bered a conversation we had last year when we were close to it then. They did not forget that I could ride a bike still. "Everything they do turns to gold and whenever they went into MotoGP it seemed like a strange project at the time because they took an Aprilia Superbike and we thought it was not going to be competitive and look at what they did there. They are a profes- sional team and they won 125s and 250 and so many world titles and whenever they do something they do it right so I was keen to get involved with it." Laverty said he was not leav- ing World Superbike because of a perceived drop off in the image of the championship. "It is not really part of the rea- son because we know what we are capable of with the riders here, but it is bigger than me just going to MotoGP," Laverty said. "I am going there to represent the Superbike riders and the lev- el and to show how strong it is. I have faced that for the last cou- ple of years because people say that in Superbike the level is not like the rest, but I think people forget very quickly what Marco Melandri did achieve in MotoGP. He is a hell of a rider and he has come here and not had it all his own way. I am not saying it is go- ing to be easy going to MotoGP, but the level here has been high with the riders I have been rid- ing against. It is not like I have been wobbling around; I have been pushing and learning a lot so I am looking forward to go- ing there and looking at where we stack up. I think we will not be as far away as a lot of people outside of this paddock think." The timing of Laverty's move was ideal as he wrapped up his future long before any of the dwindling number of World Su- perbike rides dried up. "It has been done for a few weeks, so I have known for a while," he said. "Not at Jerez, but I was at the Misano GP and made a nice bit of headway then, so it has been a nice couple of weeks since then to relax and be able to focus on those last couple of rounds. Having such a tough season and wanting to move to MotoGP, but off the back of bad results. I was keen to stay here on the right bike. I know the Aprilia and I know how good it is, but it looks like they could be leaving. I spoke to the green bike guys [Kawasaki] as well and there was no door open then so that was when I decided it was time to go. Especially when I heard who their second rider is going to be [Jonathan Rea]. If that is the case then there is not going to be any beating that guy on a green bike, so it is time to get out. That is my opinion, al- though you do not know how the rules could change next year. I think it is going to be a switch of power in that team, which is go- ing to be interesting to see from the outside." Gordon Ritchie BSB BATTLE RAGES ON S hane Byrne and Ryuichi Kiyonari continued their in- tense battle in the British Super- bike Championship with a victory apiece in two closely fought rac- es at the penultimate round at Sil- verstone to set up for a dramatic finale. Byrne holds a narrow 12-point advantage over Kiyonari going into the triple-header race Showdown at Brands Hatch, Oc- tober 17-19. Kiyonari took the initia- tive in the opening race at the Northamptonshire circuit, taking the lead on his Buildbase BMW in the early stages, but Byrne was shadowing his every move and Josh Brookes was also ready to get into the fight on his Milwaukee Yamaha. Byrne closed in on Kiyonari and forced his Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki into the lead on the penultimate lap, but the Japa- nese rider responded setting up an epic battle on the final lap as the two riders traded places six times. Byrne held on to take the vic- tory by a narrow .064 of a sec- ond from Kiyonari while Brookes claimed third. "Kiyo was incredibly strong and I needed to stay with him and then on the last lap I had a little continued on page 34

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