Eugene Laverty says hip and pelvic injuries "stable" after crashing in final race of World Superbike career at Phillip Island

The Northern Ireland rider was flown to hospital in Melbourne after the accident, which occurred following a collision with Spain’s Xavi Fores in the final World Superbike race of Laverty’s career.

He was initially treated at the circuit’s medical centre before being airlifted to the Alfred Hospital by helicopter for further treatment.

Phillip Island was hosting the final round of the World Superbike Championship and the incident happed in the last race of the weekend, which was red-flagged as a result with five laps to go.

Laverty, who announced earlier this year that he would retire from the sport at the end of the season, confirmed on social media that his injuries were stable. The 36-year-old is set to take on a co-ownership and rider coaching role with the Bonovo Action BMW team in 2023.

In a post on Twitter, Laverty said: “I’ve been very fortunate that my pelvic and hip fractures are stable so no surgery required.

“While I could’ve cruised home those final five laps of my racing career I figured there was no point being on track unless I was gonna give it 100%. The important thing is that I will recover well.”

The County Antrim man finished as the championship runner-up in 2013 behind Tom Sykes and won 13 races during a 10-year career in World Superbikes. Laverty was also a two-time runner-up in the World Supersport Championship.

He also competed in the 250cc Grand Prix class and in MotoGP for two seasons.

Revealing his plans to call time on his career in a statement in July, Laverty said: “Jurgen Roder and Michael Galinski made this proposal to me and I really appreciate that they believe I can fulfill this role.

“I really enjoy being part of this team, as it’s probably the best team I’ve ever ridden in during my career. And opportunities like this don’t come along very often.

“This will be a completely different path of my career. It’s going to be a very interesting new challenge for me, and I’ll have a lot to learn from Jurgen and Michael.”