Factory Aprilia rider Eugene Laverty has World Superbike glory in his sights as he counts down the days to the first round of the 2012 championship in Australia later this month.

The Northern Ireland star, who ruffled a few feathers on his debut in the class last season, joined team-mate and five-time world champion Max Biaggi for the official launch of Aprilia’s works team in Milan, Italy, on Tuesday.

Laverty was signed by the Italian manufacturer after he lost his ride with Yamaha following the Japanese giant’s shock decision to curtail its factory-backed support of World Superbikes.

Twice a runner-up in the World Supersport championship, Laverty made the step up to the premier class with aplomb in 2011, claiming his maiden victories with a sensational double at Monza and ending the year in fourth position overall, narrowly missing out on third place to Biaggi.

With the benefit of a year’s experience on the 1000cc Yamaha behind him, former 250cc Grand Prix rider Laverty is determined to mount a sustained challenge for the world title on the awesome Aprilia RSV-4, which was won in such convincing fashion last year by Spain’s Carlos Checa on the Althea Ducati.


“In my second Superbike season, coming off of a good debut, I won’t make a secret of the fact that I’d like to make it to the podium often and take home some victories,” said the 25-year-old.

“We’ll see about the rest as we go along. If everything goes smoothly I think the year will bring us some satisfaction.

“It’s a championship where details make all the difference, but especially consistency; both Max and Carlos, winners in the last two seasons, built their success race after race, cutting errors down to a minimum.”

In one of his first outings on the Aprilia at the post-season test at Portimao in Portugal in November, Laverty topped the time-sheets as he appeared to gel with the RSV-4 from the off, heightening expectations that he will be a major threat to Checa’s throne in 2012.

“I had a promising start when I tested my new bike for the first time at Portimao. I found a good feeling right from my first laps on the RSV-4 and the guys in the team made me feel like part of the family straight away,” he said.

“In any case I won’t underestimate the foreseen difficulties that come with a new adventure like this one.

“Superbikes are extremely high-performance machines and they require maximum riding effort. There is no time to take in the scenery when racing any bike, even more so when racing with 1000cc!

“The factory derivatives have made giant steps forward like electronic management and performance in general. They are true racing bikes, which goes to show the refinement of the factory models that our bikes come out of.”



.