Despite impressing throughout the weekend, Laverty could qualify no higher than 19th, five places lower than what he felt was his ideal position, in Q1 after both his runs saw riders getting in his way.
Believing that his increased pace in free practice attracted others to follow his lead, Laverty described the first of the two qualifying shootouts as 'amateur hour', which contains riders 'that suffer from SBS – small brain syndrome.'
"An absolute disaster," was how he described his qualifying position. "My ideal place was 14th and that's a tough pill to swallow because that's where we've been all weekend. There are so many tow trucks out there trying to follow.
"I don't mind trying to ride by myself and then when you do you arrive at the last corner and t here are three guys trying to tuck in behind you. I don't want to tow them and then I slow up, my tyre is cold. Then I'll lose the first sector. We all lose. Everybody loses when you mess around like that. You don't see the guys in Q2 doing that. It's only in Q1. It's amateur hour.
"We've got more than five kilometres of track other there and 15 guys and we can't seem to try and shake them. These guys virtually stop. They could put their foot down. It's not good. This time it really affected me with me being strong here. There were a lot of people looking to follow. In Q1 you accept that it's going to mess up one of your tyres but because there are so many tow trucks out there it messed up both. Realistically we were 14th and that's difficult to accept being five places behind.
"By myself I reckon 2m 2.5 was where we were looking at. I pulled into the last corner and Karel Abraham pulled in front of me. But you find a clear bit of track and these guys aren't scared t o wait 30 seconds. With these Bridgestone tyres you have to keep the heat in them.
"When I came round the last corner the rear tyre let go big because I had slowed. Some guys they just to follow. The guys that suffer from SBS – small brain syndrome – they can't do it by themselves. Unfortunately those are the guys I'm battling with now. It's nice when you watch Q2, they're the professional guys. Those are the guys I want to battling with but unfortunately that's not possible right now."
Despite the frustrations in Q1, Laverty feels he has the pace to gain a 'good haul of points' in Sunday's race after a day in which he finished an impressive 15th in FP3.
"The ideal lap time shows us as the fastest 'Open' as well. We've got pace. For me I'm the only 'Open' that's considering both tyres right now. I'm still not sure which on to race. There are advantages with both. Whether the harder one can be more consistent I'm not sure. We used the soft tyre in the cool er conditions as well.
"If it's dry this is out best shot for a long time of an 'Open' class win and a good haul of points. The bike is working well and the lap time is consistent. We're just starting a little far back."
