‘Opportunities like this don’t come round often’ - Laverty

Another big name in WorldSBK’s past decade and more is set to leave the fray, with the announcement that Eugene Laverty will stop being a rider for the Bonovo BMW team at the end of this year and become a joint team owner and rider coach.

Laverty would clearly have liked to have got back to the kind of form that saw him win 12 WorldSBK races but circumstances have conspired to see him stop as of next year.

“It wasn’t something I was thinking for next year, initially,” Laverty told bikesportnews.com. “Jurgen and Michael said to me, whenever the time comes, it was a proposal. Things were going good at Aragon and I said, I want to have a few more years at it yet.

“I need to turn this ship around, because the last two years have been pretty shit, haven’t they, results-wise. So, I wanted to have another go at it but I have to be realistic and realise an opportunity like this doesn’t come around very often. So, we spoke again with Jurgen and I said, ‘Yeah. Let’s give it a go for next year. I didn’t want to pass up an opportunity. It doesn’t come along very often, does it.”

Eugene being in his 30s, and a current rider, should help the Bonovo management stay current.

“It’s a transition period, these few years. That’s why it wasn’t immediate for next year. So, I have a few years to kind of learn the ropes.”

Is this a significant thing for Laverty, money-wise?

“The main thing is what Jurgen has done establishing this team, because he’s a retired businessman with a lot of success, and he’s done this as a fun thing, but he’s doing it right, isn’t he? He’s got a lot of connection where he has set sponsor agreements in place for a lot of years into the future.

“That was a big part of it for me. Mainly just sponsorship agreements for