Laverty keen to put Spielberg ending behind him

Eugene Laverty intends to put the disappointment of his last corner tumble in Austria behind him as the Irishman attempts to resume his impressive points-scoring MotoGP run at Brno.

Laverty was taken out by Danilo Petrucci on the final lap at the Red Bull Ring as the pair disputed 11th place, bringing the Aspar Ducati rider's consistent sequence of nine consecutive points finishes to a frustrating end. Petrucci has been hit with a three-place grid penalty for this weekend's race in the Czech Republic for irresponsible riding.

The 30-year-old has some concerns over how his Desmosedici will handle the long corners at Brno, but Laverty is focused on entering the weekend in a positive frame of mind.

"Brno is a very flowing track, which worries me a little because it has some long corners where our Ducati seems to struggle the most this season," he said.

"But we made some big steps in between the test and the race in Austria. Confidence is a big thing in this sport and if we maintain the positive thinking from Austria and put the last two hundred metres of the Spielberg weekend behind us we can be competitive again at Brno."

Laverty's Aspar team have confirmed the signing of Alvaro Bautista for 2017. The Spaniard is set to ride GP16 machinery next season, with either Laverty or his current team-mate Yonny Hernandez filling the second seat, but rumoured to be on the GP15 model.

However, Laverty has made it clear that he will only stay put if he is provided with equal machinery to his team-mate, otherwise he is poised to return to the World Superbike Championship and has been linked to Aprilia's proposed factory-backed return to the series with SMR.