Eugene Laverty

Eugene Laverty (born 3 June 1986) is a former professional motorcycle road racer from Northern Ireland, the brother of Michael and John.

For 2022, Laverty is contracted to ride for satellite BMW team Bonovo in World Superbike Championship. Midway through the season, Laverty announced his intended retirement at the end of 2022, partly due to poor race results, to continue with the same team as a co-owner and rider coach.

During 2021, Laverty rode in some World Superbike events before his RC Squadra Corse team withdrew from racing; further rides later in the season were as a replacement for injured BMW factory rider Tom Sykes.

In 2011 and 2013 he was awarded the Joey Dunlop Memorial Trophy for the Best Irish Motorcyclist of the Year and in 2024 he was inducted in the Irish Motorcycling Hall of Fame.

Career Early career Born in Toomebridge, Northern Ireland, Laverty was runner-up in the 2004 British 125cc Championship. He had a successful year in 2006 aboard the Dunlop shod Red Bull Honda CBR600RR. He was a top challenger for the British Supersport title, but finished third overall behind Cal Crutchlow and Tom Sykes, with four wins. He had previously finished 9th overall as a series rookie in 2005.

250cc World Championship (2007–2008) For 2007, Laverty raced in the 250cc Grand Prix World Championship for LCR Honda finishing in 25th place overall with a best result of 14th. A strong run at Barcelona produced no points due to an engine problem.

For , it was expected that Laverty would go back to Britain and further his career in Supersports or Superbikes, but he was signed by Blusens Aprilia on 18 December to continue to race in 250cc with privateer motorcycles. He scored points in China and Portugal, but at Le Mans he crashed at the one remaining wet corner as the circuit dried.

Supersport World Championship (2008–2010) Plans for Laverty to make his World Superbike debut later that year

Laverty signed with the Parkalgar Honda World Supersport team for the 2009 season. On 14 March 2009 Laverty won his first Supersport World Championship race at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar, narrowly beating Ten Kate Racing's Andrew Pitt to the chequered flag. His win was also the first for the Parkalgar Honda team. He stacked up three more wins and four-second places to finish as series runner-up behind Yamaha rider Cal Crutchlow – ending Ten Kate's run of being the top Honda team for many years.

Superbike World Championship (2011–2014) Laverty, on his Yamaha World Superbike, won his first Superbike World Championship race at Monza on 8 May 2011. Eugene stood proudly as his national anthem was played just after race one. Later that afternoon, Laverty completed the double by winning race two, with fellow Yamaha teammate Marco Melandri taking second spot. For 2012, Laverty rode a factory-specification Aprilia, partnering Max Biaggi.

MotoGP World Championship (2015–2016) For the 2015 season, Laverty moved to MotoGP with the Aspar Team, riding a Honda RC213V-RS open-specification motorcycle. He finished the season in 22nd place in the riders' championship standings, with a best result of 12th in Catalunya.

Laverty remained with the team – now riding Ducati Desmosedici GP14.2 motorcycles – for the 2016 season, where he partnered Yonny Hernández. In Argentina, he achieved his best results in MotoGP career with fourth place.

Timeline

In 2008, Laverty had competed in both the 250cc World Championship and the World Supersport series, he then went on to be runner up in the Supersport World Championship in both 2009 and 2010.

In 2011, Laverty moved up to the Superbike World Championship with the factory Yamaha World Superbike team, alongside former MotoGP rider Marco Melandri. On 8 May, he won his first World Superbike race at Monza and went on to complete the double in race two. For 2012, he moved to the Aprilia Racing Team and has been racing the Aprilia RSV4 alongside Max Biaggi, ending the championship in 6th position and competed for the 2013 championship in the same team alongside Sylvain Guintoli.

In 2017 and 2018, Laverty competed in the World Superbikes aboard an Aprilia RSV4, before losing his position within the Shaun Muir Racing team to former Kawasaki rider Tom Sykes.

For 2019, Laverty was contracted to ride in the Superbike World Championship for Team Go Eleven on a Ducati Panigale.

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season SeasonClassMotorcycleTeamRaceWinPodiumPoleFLapPtsPlcd 2004 125cc Honda Red Bull Rookies Honda 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC 2007 250cc Honda Honda LCR 17 0 0 0 0 6 25th 2008 250cc Aprilia Blusens Aprilia 12 0 0 0 0 8 21st MotoGP Honda Aspar MotoGP Team 18 0 0 0 0 9 22nd MotoGP Ducati Pull & Bear Aspar Team 18 0 0 0 0 77 13th Total 66 0 0 0 0 100

By class

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Pts 2004 125cc Honda RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED RIO GER GBR CZE POR JPN QAT MAL AUS VAL NC 0 2007 250cc Honda QAT SPA TUR CHN FRA ITA CAT GBR NED GER CZE RSM POR JPN AUS MAL VAL 25th 6 2008 250cc Aprilia QAT SPA POR CHN FRA ITA CAT GBR NED GER CZE RSM INP JPN AUS MAL VAL 21st 8 MotoGP Honda QAT AME ARG SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER INP CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL 22nd 9 MotoGP Ducati QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER AUT CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL 13th 77

Supersport World Championship

By season SeasonMotorcycleTeamRaceWinPodiumPoleFLapPtsPlcd 2008 Yamaha Yamaha World Supersport 2 0 1 0 0 20 21st 2009 Honda Parkalgar Honda 14 4 8 1 1 236 2nd 2010 Honda Parkalgar Honda 13 8 10 5 5 252 2nd Total 29 12 19 6 6 508

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos Pts 2008 Yamaha QAT AUS SPA NED ITA GER SMR CZE GBR EUR12 ITA3 FRA POR 21st 20 2009 Honda AUS5 QAT1 SPA9 NED1 ITA4 RSA1 USA2 SMR2 GBR5 CZE5 GER2 ITA2 FRA13 POR1 2nd 236 2010 Honda AUS1 POR11 SPA5 NED1 ITA1 RSA1 USA2 SMR1 CZERet GBR1 GER1 ITA3 FRA1 2nd 252

Superbike World Championship

By season SeasonMotorcycleTeamRaceWinPodiumPoleFLapPtsPlcd 2011 Yamaha Yamaha World Superbike Team 26 2 6 0 0 303 4th 2012 Aprilia Aprilia Racing Team 27 1 6 0 1 263.5 6th 2013 Aprilia Aprilia Racing Team 27 9 19 2 4 424 2nd 2014 Suzuki Voltcom Crescent Suzuki 24 1 2 0 0 161 10th 2017 Aprilia Milwaukee Aprilia 26 0 0 0 0 157 10th 2018 Aprilia Milwaukee Aprilia 21 0 2 1 0 158 8th 2019 Ducati Team GoEleven 24 0 0 0 0 81 15th 2020 BMW BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team 22 0 0 1 0 55 15th 2021 BMW RC Squadra Corse 19 0 0 0 0 40 19th 2022 BMW Bonovo Action BMW 27 0 0 0 0 36* 16th* Total 243 13 35 4 5 1678.5

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 2011 Yamaha AUS4 AUS15 EURRet EUR14 NED7 NED6 ITA1 ITA1 USA5 USA4 SMR5 SMR13 SPA4 SPA6 CZE5 CZE5 GBR2 GBR2 GER4 GER5 ITA5 ITA4 FRA5 FRA3 POR19 POR2 4th 303 2012 Aprilia AUSRet AUS8 ITA5 ITA6 NED5 NED3 ITAC ITA3 EUR15 EURRet USA5 USA6 SMR7 SMRRet SPA5 SPA2 CZE5 CZE5 GBR10 GBR4 RUS4 RUSRet GER2 GER2 POR13 POR1 FRA7 FRA4 6th 263.5 2013 Aprilia AUS2 AUS1 SPANC SPARet NED4 NED1 ITA3 ITA1 GBR7 GBR3 PORRet POR1 ITA3 ITARet RUSRet RUSC GBR2 GBR3 GER15 GER2 TUR1 TUR1 USA3 USA1 FRA3 FRA2 SPA1 SPA1 2nd 424 2014 Suzuki AUS1 AUSRet SPA5 SPA6 NEDRet NEDRet ITA7 ITA9 GBRRet GBR13 MAL3 MAL7 ITA9 ITA7 POR8 POR9 USARet USA4 SPA6 SPA6 FRA19 FRARet QAT9 QATRet 10th 161 2017 Aprilia AUS8 AUS10 THARet THA15 SPA8 SPA9 NED8 NED8 ITANC ITA7 GBR13 GBRRet ITA6 ITA5 USARet USA6 GER10 GERRet POR7 POR4 FRA6 FRA17 SPA8 SPARet QAT4 QAT7 10th 157 2018 Aprilia AUS8 AUS15 THA9 THARet SPA SPA NED NED ITA12 ITA9 GBR6 GBRRet CZE6 CZE4 USA4 USA3 ITA3 ITA8 PORRet POR7 FRA9 FRA11 ARG5 ARGRet QAT4 QATC 8th 158 Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos Pts R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 2019 Ducati AUS AUS AUS THA THA THA SPA SPA SPA NED NED NED ITA ITA ITA SPA SPA SPA ITA ITA ITA GBR GBR GBR USA USA USA POR POR POR FRA FRA FRA ARG ARG ARG QAT QAT QAT 15th 81 2020 BMW AUS AUS AUS SPA SPA SPA POR POR POR SPA SPA SPA SPA SPA SPA SPA SPA SPA FRA FRA FRA POR POR POR 15th 55 2021 BMW SPA SPA SPA POR POR POR ITA ITA ITA GBR GBR GBR NED NED NED CZE CZE CZE SPA SPA SPA FRA FRA FRA SPA SPA SPA SPA SPA SPA POR POR POR ARG ARG ARG INA INA INA 19th 40 2022 BMW SPA SPA SPA NED NED NED POR POR POR ITA ITA ITA GBR GBR GBR CZE CZE CZE FRA FRA FRA SPA SPA SPA POR POR POR ARG ARG ARG INA INA INA AUS AUS AUS 16th 36 Season still in progress.