Michael Laverty is seeking his first podium finish of the season next weekend when the Bennetts British Superbike Championship reaches Cadwell Park for the August Bank Holiday Monday extravaganza.
Laverty's results this year have not reflected his efforts on track and those behind the scenes of the Relentless Suzuki by TAS squad, with his best result being two fourth places at Oulton Park and Brands Hatch. At the previous round at Knockhill, Laverty had been consistently strong throughout free practice and qualifying but when it came to the races he had to settle for sixth. As the championship reaches round nine though, Laverty is ready to step on to the podium.
Laverty told the BSB website: "I am looking forward to Cadwell Park as it is a good circuit but it is difficult to get the right setup and it is physical. You need to be in good shape to ride well there as it is demanding on the body and mind. I enjoy riding it and there have been improvements to make it safer now. There is always a good crowd that turn up and they can get close to the track so it has a great atmosphere."
"The setup is difficult because it feels almost like two different circuits; you have the tight, twisty woodland section then the wide, sweeping back part of the track so it is a real challenge there. The weather will affect the bike setup and the pace is going to be hot. This is the team's first season in BSB so we have no previous data from other seasons so every event we have been starting from scratch. We come into each round blind in terms of settings and we start from the basics with gearing and chassis setup. We are always making changes unlike teams like Airwaves or HM Plant who work on settings from tests or from the round the previous year so we sometimes struggle as we are behind."
"Hopefully the new qualifying system will add something to the day for the fans and will be a bit of a spectacle. I hope I can put a good lap time in then spend the first two sessions for setup then go all out for it in the final session. We should comfortably get in to the last part I think. The main thing is we can't afford to crash in the first parts; we need to keep upright and set a good lap time if we want to stay in. It should be interesting for everyone."
"We haven't had the results we would have wanted so far this year because things have just not come together. I am aiming for two top fives next weekend and really I want to step on to the podium."
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