FOR THE SECOND time in a fortnight, Antrim man Eugene Laverty is celebrating a best-ever finish on the Moto GP circuit.

The Toomebridge native stormed into a fourth-place finish in Argentina last night, despite starting the final lap back in eighth.

Fortunately for Laverty, a late crash (from 11.20 in the below video) took out two riders ahead of him and he was able to climb close to the podium.

“The last lap was great craic, that was something a bit special,” a delighted Laverty said after the rain-hit race.

“It was an incredible race, a race of two parts because we obviously had to come in to change bikes.

“The track was a little better on the second exit, but I realised that I had to make up all my time in corner entry because I had no rear grip compared to the other riders. So I pushed the front tyre and was able to keep a good rhythm.

After the pre-season we had, I can’t ask for more than 13 points in the second race of the season. Last year I managed nine points over the whole championship so to get 13 in one race is great recompense for myself and for the team, who kept faith in me and let me work my way back in testing.

“We were off the pace after so many big knocks and it took me a while to regain my confidence but I feel we are back where we should be now and I want to thank the whole team for their efforts.”

Laverty finished 36 seconds off winner Marc Marquez who was joined by Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa on the podium with Valentino Rossi forced to settle for second.

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