Akrapovic equipped Laverty is Bonza in Monza

In just his fourth round in World Superbike, Eugene Laverty has now joined the championship list of winners in a big way with a double victory at Monza. Second on the starting-grid, in race 1 the Irishman had a great scrap with Max Biaggi, and with his pass on lap 6 went on to score his first-ever victory in Superbike.

The 24 year-old two-times World Supersport runner-up then repeated the feat in the second race. Unlike race 1, this one began with an uphill struggle with Laverty caught up in the crash at the first chicane sparked off by contact between Leon Haslam, Jakub Smrz and Jonathan Rea. Down in ninth place, Laverty then give rise to a superb recovery that soon took him up to his team-mate and also Akrapovic sponsored Marco Melandri.

Advantaged by the penalty inflicted on Max Biaggi (another Akrapovic rider!), the two Yamaha World Superbike team riders then slugged it out for the win; the battle, which was only resolved at the line, gave Laverty the prize after the canny Irishman capitalized on a slight mistake by Melandri in the entry to the Parabolica on the final lap.

"I can't believe I got a double victory today. I came here aiming for a podium and now I'm coming away with two incredible race wins. It's fantastic. I didn't get off to a good start in the second race. I had to avoid a collision on the first corner, causing me to lose time. I also struggled a little with the tyres in the hot conditions. When it came to the last few laps, I couldn't believe my luck that it was just me and Marco in the lead. This double victory was particularly special to me, being the team's home track."

With this double win Eugene Laverty has now leaped up from 9th to 6th in the table with 85 points, and almost overnight has become one of the candidates for top honours in the 2011 season.

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