Michael Laverty and PBM made their own piece of history in Jerez on Sunday, as the Northern Irish MotoGP™ rookie scored the first World Championship points for the team’s own-built bike.
For the Penrith-based outfit’s second campaign in 2013, the squad is developing its Laverty-ridden PBM motorcycle completely in-house whereas Colombian teammate Yonny Hernandez is at the helm of more familiar ART machinery.
Following his first two Grands Prix in Qatar and Texas, in which he finished 17th and 16threspectively, Laverty was delighted with 13th position in Sunday’s Gran Premio bwin de España. The achievement, from the back row of the starting grid, brought three points.
“I'm really happy to collect my first MotoGP points and also the first for PBM as a constructor,” 31-year-old Laverty said after the race.
“It was a difficult weekend up until race day but the team worked hard as always and came up with some answers for race day. We need to improve our pace on new tyres in the early laps, as late in the race we are lapping close to the pace of Espargaro (Power Electronics Aspar and the leading CRT runner), but he is much faster on new rubber.
“We are getting closer every race and we will keep progressing as we learn more about the PBM machine and begin to maximise its potential.”
PBM’s next challenge will be the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France, taking place at legendary Le Mans across the weekend of 17-19 May.
source : motogp.com
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