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| PIC: www.speedweek.de |
Michael Laverty has been a FreestyleXtreme sponsored athlete for many years so we may be a little bit biased. Even so, we couldn’t be more excited to see the Northern Irishman racing on the world stage alongside the likes of Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo. Michael very kindly took some time out before the first race at Qatar to talk to us about his hopes for the new season.
How is life in the MotoGP treating you, Michael?
Its been good, although Im not sure you get the full MotoGP experience from the Malaysia tests as the paddock is on quite a reduced scale without the Moto 2/3 teams and none of the GP infrastructure. However life inside my team and on track has been really positive. The travel and climate/cultural changes are something that I quite enjoy rather than seeing them as a pain like some do. Ive been away from home a lot already, so I miss Jodi and our dog but its all good, Im answering these questions with a sea view and sun on my back, no complaints here!
There is a huge amount of fan support behind you this year. We particularly like the ‘open letter’ article to you from SofaRacer. Have you noticed a difference in reaction from them since you started in MotoGP?
Its been quite interesting, Im not one to read fan forums but from what Ive been told by those close to me who do, there has been a major shift from the detractors originally to a lot of support. It has been surprising, BSB [British Superbike Championship] is a top national series but just the fact that you race MotoGP (albeit on a CRT machine) really seems to incite a lot of interest. I shall enjoy the support and like SofaRacer stated, enjoy every minute of being a MotoGP rider!
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| PIC: www.michaellaverty.com |
Your testing in Sepang earlier in the year couldn’t have gone much better. Your confidence must be high after that performance?
Its nice, I wont lie - it feels good. Of course I felt that was roughly where I should be in theory but with no prior experience in GP there was a bit of guess work involved. With experience you learn to gauge things, like your level, the competition, their strengths and weaknesses although there can be things you havent accounted for. I like to analyse everything, I feel Im a realist so it wasnt a big surprise to me however it did seem to shock a lot of people.
Is it satisfying to prove to your detractors that you deserve to be on the world stage?
For sure, although I dont really get hung up on other people opinions, positive or negative, I dont really allow myself to take it on board unless it comes from a source whom I respect, you know? Arm chair critics cant ever have a true grasp of what is going on, but if I get praise or criticism from say my brothers my parents or my peers for example, thats a different story. It keeps your feet on the ground when you’re doing well and your chin off the floor when things get tough!
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| PIC: www.motogp.com |
You must be getting on pretty well with your new bike then? What sort of things are you noticing as you spend more time with your CRT Aprilia?
Unfortunately Ive had a grand total of 30 laps on the bike I will race this season, and it was a very unrefined version with no electronics, etc. Sepang 1 I rode the ART bike that James Ellision rode last year, it was good as everything worked so it allowed me to just get on and ride it, learn all the nuances of MotoGP like the circuit, carbon brakes, Bridgestone tyres, electronics etc.
By the final day I was right on the pace with the top CRT [Claiming Rule Team] guys and finished up 2nd, I was really happy with the ART and felt comfortable on it.
We arrived at Sepang 2 with the new PBM [Paul Bird Motorsport] bike, it was a three day test and I didnt get to ride it until after lunch on the final day. It definitely was a test of patience, I felt I needed more track time to continue my learning process but it was important to get some data for the PBM bike, so rather than using the spare ART [Aprilia Racing Technologies] I let my team get on with finishing the new bike. All credit to them they worked harder and longer than any other team on pit lane to get it running and in the end it was very satisfying for them to put a brand new bike on circuit and get damn close to the necessary lap times with minimal track time.
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| PIC: www.michaellaverty.com |
With the whole season ahead of you, what do you think you are looking forward to the most?
Not one thing in particular but the whole experience, riding on the best circuits in the world against the best riders on the best bikes in front of thousands of fans. It is the pinnacle of Motorcycle racing and I plan to enjoy being part of the show.
What are your hopes for Qatar? Have you or the team set any targets?
I have yes, but it may be a little bit unrealistic at the moment, I should know better what our level is after the final Jerez test this weekend. I want to be battling to win the CRT race, if I was on the ART bike I would say it confidently but as we still have a lot of work to do with the PBM bike just to reach the level of the ART bike in performance I am a little bit reluctant.
We also read recently that Paul Bird Motorsport landed a sponsorship with an adult movie subscription channel. Not a bad perk of the job, we assume?
Ha ha, yes there has been mixed reviews from fans on that one but I imagine the male fans wont mind a slightly different look from the promo girls! And no I havent been given a free subscription before you ask, lol.
