Eugene Laverty after his involuntary crash in the first corner of Magny Cours in the center of the picture, while the cause and BMW teammate Tom Sykes is already trudging away. Shortly before the end of the 2020 season, Laverty’s pole position was the highlight of the season, but as is so often the case, a little later he became the unlucky person of the weekend.

Exclusive – the Northern Irish’s WorldSBK season is in acute danger

Together with Jonas Folger in his Bonovo Racing Team, Eugene Laverty was presented by BMW as the second private driver on November 27, 2020. The 34-year-old from Toomebridge in Northern Ireland is considered the absolute unlucky person in WorldSBK. If a driver’s opponent, brakes or electronics fail, it will always be his case, which is why he had innocently fallen and injured several times. In Magny-Cours 2020, for example, he started from pole position and was cleared in the first corner by his team-mate Tom Sykes of all people. In an act of unsportsmanlike conduct, BMW then blamed Yamaha rider Garrett Gerloff, which, however, was a pure invention. We were right there and the race management saw it completely differently. But now Laverty has completely different problems before almost all of the drivers take to the track together for the first major test in Barcelona. His whole season is currently in question and the reason for this is apparently the good money.

A picture from happier days – Eugene Laverty in the BMW box as the successor to Markus Reiterberger as the second driver alongside Tom Sykes. Unfortunately, the notorious unlucky WorldSBK had to give way to Michael van der Mark after only one season when he could not find a consensus with Yamaha for his contract extension.

The root of all evil lies in Italy
When Laverty lost his place in the BMW works team to “Magic Michael”, we and his fans were happy in November 2020 that he found a place at the last minute. Team owner Roberto Colombo’s RC Squadra Corse team was given a new name for the 2021 season. However, the Italian is not a blank slate in the WSBK paddock. His company Global Service Solution (GSS) already appeared as a sponsor of the Pedercini Racing Team and the reasons for the separation were never really clearly explained. As we have now learned from an insider in the scene, the whole thing seems to be developing more and more into a castle in the air. Of course, as is customary in such cases, our informant does not want to be named. But the sparrows are already whistling from the rooftops that Laverty is already threatened with the end of this season. It could be the last of the likeable Northern Irishman who has been in WorldSBK for many years with a few interruptions. For more information see under “History” on this page about the earlier years of the near-series World Championship.

Eugene Laverty photographed by us at the WorldSBK autograph session in BuriRam (Thailand) in 2018. Few drivers take as much time for their fans as the fast man from the island. After finishing 9th in the first race on Saturday, it turned out to be a black Sunday for Laverty when he had a serious crash due to a brake failure and was then taken to the Medical Center. Immediately afterwards he was injured in Aragon and Assen.

Without the money, nothing works

It has now been confirmed that Laverty is traveling to Catalonia, but his team and his bike are not even there. Since the new BMW M-1000RR is the last motorcycle that was recently on the racetrack in Jerez this season, it looks anything but good for its factory and private riders. The time for the development of the brand new model is extremely short and many fans of the brand and its drivers are already worried whether they will be competitive again at least this time. The 2020 season turned into a complete disaster after a respectable first year. Often enough the drivers were absent in the first two years due to technical problems. But while Jonas Folger and the two brand colleagues from the factory team will go out on the track for the first time with the competition from March 31st, Eugene Laverty looks down the drain. It is currently unlikely that BMW will help him with this. Of course, neither she nor the unfortunate Northern Irishman can do anything for the fact that the money is obviously missing. Perhaps a little miracle will happen and Eugene will still be fine and the blue-whites will finally make the connection in the third year.

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) in front of Eugene Laverty (Aprilia) 2012 when entering the infamous Cork-Screw of Laguna Seca. At that time Eugene still had the number 58 because Sylvain Guintoli took 50 and he finished sixth at the end of the season. A year later he was even runner-up on the Aprilia RSV4. For more about these years see our richly illustrated history on this page.

Unless otherwise mentioned, applies to all images (© WorldSBK).