Northern Ireland’s John Laverty has been thrown a lifeline in the MCE British Superbike Championship after teaming up with Primo Bournemouth Kawasaki.
The Toomebridge man has missed the last two rounds of the series at Donington Park and last weekend’s Showdown opener at Assen after losing his ride with the Splitlath Redmond Aprilia team.
Laverty suffered serious injuries in a crash at Oulton Park last year and joined Splitlath Racing on his full-time return to BSB.
However, he was axed from the squad after failing to finish in the points during the opening eight rounds of the championship.
The 30-year-old, a former winner of the British Superbike Cup, will now see out the season in the Kawasaki outfit at Silverstone this weekend and Brands Hatch in October, replacing regular rider James Hillier.
Laverty, who scored his maiden BSB podium on a ZX-10R two years ago on his way to finishing in eighth place overall in the series, said: “I am happy to be back in the championship this weekend and it will be good to finish off the season with the team as they have a lot of knowledge and experience of racing Superbikes.
“At the start of this season I wasn’t obviously at full fitness as I was still recovering from my crash but now I am feeling much stronger.
“I have raced a Kawasaki before so hopefully it will feel more familiar to me when we roll out on Friday.”
Laverty joins veteran Chris Walker in the team as he attempts to serve up a timely reminder of his capabilities before the conclusion of the championship with the triple header finale at Brands on October 14.