It is no secret that Eugene Laverty is keen to move to MotoGP for the 2015 season. The Irishman has been present at the last three MotoGP rounds, touting his services around the teams in the hope of securing a ride. He has been in talks with Forward, Pramac, and Aspar about a ride in 2015, but as yet, no deal has been announced.
It is certain that one has been signed, however. Today, the Voltcom Crescent Suzuki team – his team in World Superbikes – issued a press release wishing Laverty well on his step up to MotoGP. No details were given of where Laverty is headed, other than that he will not be in World Superbikes in 2015, but will be racing in MotoGP.
Though no announcement was made, it seems certain that Laverty will be riding a production Honda for Aspar in 2015. A deal had to wait until Scott Redding’s future had been secured, as Redding was Aspar’s preferred choice, despite never having spoken to either the Gloucestershire rider or his manager.
Once Redding was confirmed as riding with Marc VDS in MotoGP next season, that cleared the way for Laverty.
Laverty faced a second problem at Aspar. The Spanish team had also signed a proposal with Loris Baz, stating that if Redding didn’t sign with the team by 15th September, then Baz would get the ride on the production Honda.
For the past week, however, Aspar have been struggling to get out of that contract, claiming that Baz (at 1.92m) is “too tall” for a MotoGP bike.
With Baz now seemingly out of the frame, that clears the way for Laverty, who had a similar agreement with Aspar. Nicky Hayden has a contract with Aspar for 2015, but the American is yet to return to action after wrist surgery. Hayden is set to return at Aragon, but no confirmation that he actually will be racing in two weeks has been forthcoming yet.
Source: Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
This article was originally published on MotoMatters, and is republished here on Asphalt & Rubber with permission by the author.
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