Eugene Laverty confirms MotoGP switch in 2015

Eugene Laverty will switch to MotoGP in 2015 after confirming he will leave the Voltcom Crescent Suzuki World Superbike squad at the end of the season.

As was first revealed by MCN, the Irish rider will ride a production Honda RCV1000R machine for the Spanish-based Aspar squad, ending his long pursuit of a MotoGP ride.

Laverty was linked to an Aspar switch at the same stage a year ago when it looked like the team run by Jorge Martinez was continuing to run Aprilia’s ART project.

But when Aprilia boss Gigi Dall’Igna quit to join Ducati, Aspar switched to Honda and Laverty’s MotoGP chance vanished.

He has been locked in talks with Aspar, Pramac Ducati and Forward Yamaha for several weeks but is understood to have signed a deal to move to Aspar during last weekend’s Misano MotoGP race.

Aspar had been holding out to see how Scott Redding’s future materialised, but the Briton confirmed he will ride a factory Honda RC213V in the Marc VDS Racing squad.
In a statement issued by Laverty’s Voltcom Suzuki World Superbike squad this morning, he said: “I’d like to thank everyone at Voltcom Crescent Suzuki for all their efforts this season. They’re an incredibly hard working team and we share the same desire to win. We started the year fantastically with a win first time out at Phillip Island, something nobody expected us to do. Even if the results haven’t always come our way, I’ve really enjoyed working with the team and the GSX-R, there is so much potential there. We still have two rounds remaining and my aim is to climb back up on that rostrum before I move to MotoGP in 2015.”