Laverty and Kirkham with Honda Racing in 2012

Honda Racing will field Michael Laverty and Jon Kirkham in BSB next year.

Laverty finished fourth in BSB this year on a Swan Yamaha but turned down an offer to stay with them to ride for Honda.

He said: “It is an exciting prospect for me to be joining Honda in 2012. It was unexpected and it is always a difficult decision to move teams, especially as we had such a good year on the Swan Yamaha. I have gone from one championship winning team to another.”

Kirkham was a victim of Crescent Suzuki switching to WSB but he has picked up another top class BSB ride with Honda.

He said: “It is absolutely fantastic for me to be joining Honda. They are well established and the most successful team in the BSB paddock.

“I really do believe they will have the package to beat with the new technical regulations. You could see how strong the Fireblade was in the Evo championship last season.”