Michael Laverty confirms departure from British Superbikes in 2019

Michael Laverty has confirmed he won't be riding in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship in 2019.

The Toome man will instead focus on his commentating commitments with BT Sport’s MotoGP team and will also compete in the World Endurance Championship.

Laverty rode for the Tyco BMW team this season in BSB, finishing in 13th place.

He was in action at the Sunflower Trophy meeting at the weekend at Bishopscourt in County Down, where he took third in the feature race behind Richard Cooper and Danny Buchan.

Laverty (37) had a disappointing end to the BSB season at Brands Hatch, crashing out in the wet at the Kent circuit in the final two races.

Afterwards, he said: “That wasn’t how I wanted to finish the season. We are usually strong in the wet, but race one was difficult, I couldn’t find the grip I usually have; I had lots of moments and finally crashed out.

“We made some changes for race two that immediately felt better, I made a strong start but once again lost the rear with a similar crash to race one.”