Tyco BMW’s Michael Laverty is now in Showdown contention, after a consistent run of solid points push him up to fifth in the overall MCE British Superbike Championship standings.

At Thruxton the Northern Irishman did not have the best of starts, with him qualifying in twentieth but because of the ‘unique’ track Laverty knew he would find this weekend difficult, and admitted that he lacked the speed to fight for race wins yesterday.

But his team found a package that worked and he was able to finish the double-header in ninth and sixth respectably and is now three points ahead of team-mate Tommy Bridewell in the series. Honda Racing’s Jason O’Halloran was inside the Showdown spots, but slipped out of the top six after breaking his leg and hand on Saturday.

His Tyco team have a scheduled test this week where the Wales-based resident will try out some new upgrades, with the aim of giving his S1000RR that added pace to get his first win of the year.

“Finally I am above that red line - we should have been there before this weekend, but I am happy with how the weekend went,” said Laverty, speaking to bikesportnews.com from the track.

“I knew that it was going to be tough, but I did expect it because of the unique circuit. We struggled through practice and struggled through the settings but at the end we had a better overall package.

“I qualified twentieth and to come away with a ninth and a sixth, I am happy with that as the speed wasn’t there, but I think I can expect to take a step forward now.

“At the moment we are not championship contenders but we have got a test planned now and with a few updates coming. If those updates perform how I expect we can take a step up, and over the next five rounds we need to challenge for podiums and wins.”