Eugene Laverty's admits he is disappointed to miss out on third position in the World Superbik🔯e Championship standings by a single point, but accepts his season could have ended in very different circumstanc🌞es had he not prevented a potentially spectacular crash in race one.

The Irishman was looking good to k🍬eep Max Biaggi behind him in the battle for third overall after qualifying on the front row for the two races, but a mistake under braking on lap three would launch the Yamaha into a vicious high-side.

Remarkably, Laverty got the🃏 bike back under control, marginally missing both his team-mate ಞMarco Melandri and Jonathan Rea, but the ferocity would cause the damper to break, necessitating a visit to the pit lane.

Undeterred, Laverty regained his confidence for race two and led for three-quarters of the race before beingꦿ overhauled by Melandri, a move that would ultimately cost him third in the standings as he ꧂ended the year level on points with his rival, only to lose out on count-back.

"Well it was a great end to the season for Yamaha with a one two race finish in race two. It's been a fantastic year and I'd like to thank 🐟Yamaha and all the team for that. Obviously it would have been great to finish up with one more point to get third in the championship, but unfortunately I lost out on a lot of points in race one.

"I ha🍎d an issue with the bike on lap three, coming into the VIP tower corner when the rear of the maꦓchine came off the ground and the bike suddenly snapped sideways. I was lucky not have crashed and managed to stay on the bike but the viciousness of the incident broke the steering damper and I had to come back in and have it changed. It's a pity as the pace was quick and I could have definitely been on the podium."

With Yamaha withdrawing from World Superbikes, Laverty has penned a deal with Aprilia to ride alongside Biaggi in 2012, the two-time race winner set to test the 🌠RSV-4 for the first time this week.