John Laverty

John Laverty (born 6 July 1982) is a Northern Irish former motorcycle racer from Toomebridge, Northern Ireland. He was champion of the Cup class of the British Superbike Championship in 2008. His older brother Michael and younger brother Eugene are both also notable racers.

Personal life In his youth he was a keen tennis player. His sporting heroes are George Best and John McEnroe He also enjoys Trials Riding and Golf

Early career Laverty raced motocross in his youth, switching to circuit racing for the 1999 Aprillia Challenge UK. The early part of his career was affected by injuries, however he scored a single European Superstock podium at Imola in 2003 and finished 7th overall in 2004. He first entered the British Superbike Championship in 2005, but pulled out when the bike proved uncompetitive. He spent the next 2½ years in British Superstock, taking over a ride midseason (and ultimately earning long-term backing from the team's sponsor Buildbase). He came close to a first win at Donington 2005 and Oulton Park 2006, and it finally came at Brands Hatch in 2007. he was 5th overall in the series in 2006 and 4th overall in 2007.

British Superstock/Superbike Cup For 2008 Laverty was entered by the Northwest 200 Ducati team into the British Superstock Championship, which allows few modifications to basic road bikes. Three days before the season started, the team discovered that the bike was ineligible. They instead entered him into the British Superbike Cup, as a team-mate to the veteran Michael Rutter. Laverty qualified 9th overall for the season opener, and lead the Cup class throughout, winning it comfortably in the end, taking 11 class wins and 9 further podiums despite missing the Knockhill round due to injury. He finished 17th overall, with a best overall result of 8th, although fellow Cup entrant Gary Mason outpointed him in the main class due to a strong finish He finished 2008 by contesting the Kings of Wanneroo meeting in Perth, Australia, which for 2008 was run to Superstock regulations

British Superbike Championship For 2009 he switched to the Hawk Kawasaki team, taking Buildbase as title sponsor. After a slow start to the season in the first event, at Oulton Park Laverty narrowly escaped serious injury after he went on the grass to overtake and subsequently fell casing a red flag, he was unable to make race 2 due to a concussion. Laverty earned his best finish of the year at Mallory Park finishing 4th in race 2

2010 Laverty remained with Buildbase for 2010, scoring his first podium finish at Oulton Park. The rest of the year saw mid-pack finishes, ending the season in 8th place with 190 points

2011 The 2011 season saw John ride again for Buildbase but this time astride the BMW S1000RR. The season did not start well as technical issues prevailed. But as the season continued the team worked hard to resolve these issues This unfortunately ended his 2011 season.

2012 The 2012 season promises to be a challenge for John as he gets to sit astride an Aprilia RSV4 Superbike for the first time with the Spiltlath Redmond Team.

Career statistics

2004 - 8th, Superstock European Championship, Kawasaki ZX-10R, Suzuki GSX-R1000 2005 - 21st, FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, Suzuki

Races by year

Superstock European Championship (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Pos Pts 2003 Suzuki VAL14 MNZRet OSCWD SIL19 SMR18 BRA9 NED14 IMO3 MAG10 14th 33 2004 Suzuki/Yamaha VAL13 SMR21 MNZ6 OSC10 SILRet BRA8 NED9 IMO4 MAG4 8th 60

FIM Superstock 1000 Cup 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 Pos Pts 2005 Suzuki VAL MNZ SIL SMR BRN BRA12 NEDRet LAURet IMO13 MAG11 21st 12

British Superbike Championship Year Class Bike BHI THR OUL CAD MAL KNO SNE BHGP CAD CRO SIL OUL Pos Pts Ref R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 2010 BSB Kawasaki 10 7 7 8 3 5 6 5 8 6 6 C 12 10 5 9 Ret 9 Ret 12 8 13 Ret 9 9 6 8 8th 190 Year Class Bike BHI OUL CRO THR KNO SNE OUL BHGP CAD DON SIL BHGP Pos Pts Ref R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 2011 BSB BMW Ret DNS DNS DNS 13 21 20 13 18 23 22 DNS DNS C 32nd 6