EUGENE Laverty was denied third place in his rookie World Superbike Championship season by the man he is set to run alongside at Aprilia next year, Max Biaggi.

The honorary Durham star bounced back from an enormous tank slapper in race one to finish Sunday’s second and final race of the year at Portimao, Portugal in second place behind team-mate Marco Melandri.

It was a bitter-sweet result for the rookie as the Yamaha team waved the chequered flag on its successful WSB career.

He will now head to the Italian manufacturer after inking a two-year-deal to ride the iconic Aprilia RSV4 machine.

Had Laverty won, he would have taken third in the championship but a pass by Melandri to take the lead in the closing stages of the race denied the 25-year-old his chance.

Instead, Biaggi took the third spot after the pair ended up tied on points.

It was awarded to the 2010 champ based on him having a higher number of second-place finishes over the season.

Laverty had initially looked good to emerge on top after qualifying third on the grid for both of Sunday’s races, while Biaggi had endured a miserable qualifying session and not even made it into Superpole.

He was forced to start both races back in 17th spot.

Getting a good start at the green light, Laverty held third spot for the first two laps until disaster struck on lapthree when his rear wheel came off the ground, causing his Yamaha R1 to suddenly snap sideways.

Keeping himself upright despite being flung from side to side, he managed to pull off what has already been described as the save of the season.

However, the force damaged his steering damper and he had to head to the pits for a new one, giving a charging Biaggi the chance to climb all the way up to fourth place and move into the final race with an 11 point lead.

As the last race began , Laverty had a lightning start and hit the front at the first corner, leading for much of the race.

However, Melandri – who had already secured second in the championship – wanted to go out with a bang and, after tailing Laverty for the entire race, made a move with just three laps to go – taking the lead and holding it all the way to the flag.

Laverty said: “If I had won that race I would have beaten Max to third, but it was one of those things and I cannot dwell on it.

“It would have been great to finish up with one more point to take third in the championship, but I lost out on a lot of points in race one.

“I had an issue with the bike on lap three, coming into the VIP tower corner when the rear of the machine 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 was a pity as the pace was quick and I could have been on the podium.”

With Yamaha now bowing out of the championship, Laverty paid tribute to the team who gave him his WSBk chance.

He added: “It was a great end to the season for Yamaha with a one-two race finish in race two.

“It has been a fantastic year and I would like to thank Yamaha and the team for that.

Laverty is due to ride the RSV4 for the first time today.