Eugene Laverty set to retire from racing as former World Superbike Championship runner-up prepares for new challenge

Eugene Laverty will retire from racing at the end of this season with the former World Superbike Championship runner-up set to take up a new role as co-owner of the satellite Bonovo Action BWM team.
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The Toomebridge man will also become a rider coach for the team when he hangs up his leathers at the end of this season.

Laverty made his World Superbike debut in 2011 after riding for three seasons in World Supersport.

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The 36-year-old has earned 35 podiums and 13 victories in his 238-race WSBK career, achieving his last rostrum result in the series at Misano in Italy in 2018 when he finished third on Aprilia machinery.

Eugene Laverty is set to hang up his racing leathers at the end of this season.Eugene Laverty is set to hang up his racing leathers at the end of this season.
Eugene Laverty is set to hang up his racing leathers at the end of this season.

Laverty’s last victory was at Phillip Island in Australia in 2014 on a Suzuki. He finished second in the championship in 2013 behind Tom Sykes.

As co-owner of the Bonovo Action BMW team, Laverty will work alongside team owner Jurgen Roder and team manager Michael Galinski, passing on his vast experience of competing to the team’s riders.

A former 250cc and MotoGP rider, Laverty said he was grateful for the opportunity.

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“Jurgen Roder and Michael Galinski made this proposal to me and I really appreciate that they believe I can fulfil this role,” he said.

“I wanted to finish in a strong way with some decent results, but obviously after the last rounds I had to change my thinking a little bit, as I’m having some difficulties.

“I really enjoy being part of this team though, 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.”

Laverty says he is relishing the challenge ahead when he makes the transition to his new role in 2023.

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“Jurgen has been looking for some fresh blood to entrust with the future of the team, but also someone with experience,” he said.

“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.

“At the same time, I want to say thank you to BMW Motorrad Motorsport for their faith in the past three years. We will stay closely related through my new role also in the future.”

Laverty finished race one at Most in the Czech Republic on Saturday outside the points in 19th place.

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Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati) increased his title lead with victory over Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha), while BMW’s Scott Redding held off Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) to seal the final place on the rostrum.

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