Laverty feels robbed of pole shot by tyre pressure error
Eugene Laverty feels robbed of a shot at taking pole position for the British Grand Prix at a wet Silverstone by an underinflated rear tyre that caused his crash.
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
In sodden conditions at the Northamptonshire track, Aspar Ducati rider Laverty topped the opening phase of qualifying and ended up putting his two-year-old GP14.2 machine sixth on the grid.
However, the Irishman had been on course for more, as he had set an overall best second sector before suffering a major high-side crash at Farm corner on his last lap.
Speaking afterwards, an uninjured Laverty explained that the an error by his Michelin tyre technician – who reduced the pressure of his rear tyre in spite of worsening conditions – was to blame, and that the incident cost him a good chance of beating Cal Crutchlow to pole position.
Asked about the crash by Motorsport.com, Laverty said: “I knew it could happen on that lap, because the rear tyre was as if I had a slick on.
“The Michelin tyre technician made a big error with the tyre pressure, and it felt like a slick.
“I really wasn’t happy about that because the bike was so good in Q1, I was wobbling around; I’m surprised I didn’t crash before that on that lap.
“The corner before was the one where I thought I’d launch it, because the rear felt really bad. But I stayed on it and thought ‘ok, go!’, then I got launched off."
Clarifying the exact nature of the tyre mistake, the 30-year-old added: “Not enough pressure. We saw there was more water [in Q2], that was definitely the wrong direction.
"There was mention of it after Q1, I said ‘no, there’s more water out there now’, and then I went out there and was wondering why it felt so bad and I found out the change had been done.
“If the bike was like it was in Q1, I’d have a big smile on my face now. Even with the bike feeling as bad as it did, I was on course for pole.
“The wet is always the great leveller, so to be disappointed I didn’t get pole is a strange sensation.”
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