        Team RC Squadra Corse and its rider Eugene Laverty will not compete in the Assen World Superbike round, the fifth event of the 2021 season scheduled to run this weekend, for internal reasons. The team has taken the decision with a view to building its competitiveness as the season goes on, restructuring the project in order to allow the talented Irish rider to fight for the positions that count. A difficult decision  Team manager Roberto Perego comments on the decision not to race at Assen: "We&rsquo;re very disappointed and it was a very hard decision, but after some meetings with BMW Motorrad we have decided to stop and not compete in this round. We are at the start of our project and need to work to reconfigure our structure, so that we can be competitive with Eugene again". Translated by Heather Watson WorldSBK, Assen expects a full house       

The satellite BMW team and the Irish rider will not take part in this weekend&rsquo;s Dutch WorldSBK round for internal reasons

WorldSBK: Laverty and RC Squadra Corse to miss the Assen Round

        It&rsquo;s been a long time coming but here they are at last, out on track at Motorland for their first test together. Eugene Laverty and team RC Corse have finally got to work at Arag&oacute;n, in preparation for the 2021 SBK season. The Irishman, who is an official BMW test rider, is riding the M1000 RR and has already completed many laps. According to certain sources, it appears that the four-cylinder the number 50 rider is using has been "borrowed" from the factory SMR squad, the team that fields Tom Sykes and Michael Van Der Mark. It also looks as if this bike will need to be returned to sender once pre-season testing is complete. We will have to wait and see whether the rumours are true. It&rsquo;s great to see Laverty, a rider who can still do well in SBK, out on track but there&rsquo;s not long to go before the start of the season and team RC Corse has its work cut out. The other BMW riders are not exactly hanging about (look out for Jonas Folger) and neither is the rest of the field.  Translated by Heather Watson Carl Fogarty: &ldquo;The Petronas experience was frustrating&rdquo;       

At the Arag&oacute;n test, Eugene is riding the new four-cylinder M1000 RR also used by Sykes, Van Der Mark and Folger. This is a first outing for team RC Corse

WorldSBK, Laverty (finally) in action with the BMW

It hasn&rsquo;t been an easy winter for Eugene Laverty who, having completed the 2020 season, has not ridden his BMW since, despite plans to compete in this year&#39;s world championship with Roberto Colombo&rsquo;s RC Squadra Corse team and the new M1000RR.  After a winter that was tougher than expected, the rider not even able to take part in the group test at Barcelona, Laverty finally looks set to head back out on track. The plan is for him to ride at Motorland Arag&oacute;n&nbsp;during a three-day test on 3-5 May.  Three days to prepare for the season   Starting from scratch with the new bike, Eugene will spend three days at the Spanish track, working to adapt to the German sports bike and his new team and covering as many miles as possible in order to be ready for the start of the season and the opening Arag&oacute;n round, scheduled for late May.  &quot;We&rsquo;ll test for three days at Arag&oacute;n next week, with the aim of preparing for the new season&rdquo;, confirms number 50, keen to get back in the saddle five months after his last outing. He won&rsquo;t be alone either, as he&rsquo;ll be sharing the track with factory BMW riders Tom Sykes and Michael Van Der Mark and the Bonovo Action team and rider Jonas Folger.  Translated by Heather Watson  MotoGP 2022, official: Valentino Rossi will field a team 

After spending the winter far from the racetrack for various reasons, the Irishman and Roberto Colombo&rsquo;s team are now ready to get out on track at Arag&oacute;n

SBK, Laverty and RC Squadra Corse see the light: first test in May

The 2021 season marks Eugene Laverty&rsquo;s ninth year in SBK. The highly experienced 34-year old Irishman will be riding the BMW, fielded by team RC Squadra Corse, a new squad that is putting its trust in the category veteran: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s always a good thing to be able to count on real experience - #50 tells from Portugal, where has been living in recent years &ndash; it&rsquo;s very useful when it comes to bike development and the work over the weekend. It will all be new with RC Corse, but the project is stimulating, interesting. I&rsquo;ve recovered well from my recent injuries and I have to say I&rsquo;m in great shape right now. I haven&rsquo;t felt this good since 2017. After which I had two tough years. I had fifteen years with no problems, and then five surgeries in five years. Let&rsquo;s say that if I was lucky earlier on, I paid for it later&rdquo;.    How did you spend Christmas? Eating a lot or sticking to a diet?  &ldquo;Ah, I don&rsquo;t have any problems with eating a lot, as I burn it all off quite quickly (he laughs). Yes, I have a very fast metabolism and so stayed in shape over the holidays. Then I started training from 1 January, to be ready for the first races&rdquo;.  You&rsquo;ll continue to ride a BMW, but a brand-new model.  &quot;It will be important for me to take on a second season with a bike from the same manufacturer. Not many riders can be quick in their first year on a specific bike, aside from Marc Marquez when he debuted with the Honda. Other riders need time to familiarise themselves and, for me, I&rsquo;ve always done better in my second year with the same bike. For example, in Aprilia, but also with the Honda Parkalgar team in Supersport. In both situations, I finished second in the championship, in 2010 and 2013. So, I know that my second year in the same colours can only bring real improvement&rdquo;.  Van Der Mark has already tested the new M 1000RR, how about you?  &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t yet tested the new BMW, but I know I can bring a lot of experience gained last year to the new project. This will be important, as there&rsquo;s a lot of work to do. I&rsquo;ve achieved my best results with Italian teams and my new team is Italian too. I know I&rsquo;ll have fun working with them. There will also be some BMW guys. We&rsquo;ll be an independent team, but supported by the manufacturer. There&rsquo;s greater balance across the entire SBK series now, with high-level teams, both factory and private&rdquo;.  Podium goal   BMW brings an impressive army and Eugene explains how important it is that the German manufacturer is investing in the production-derived series: &ldquo;On the grid, they&rsquo;ll have twice the number of bikes as in 2020, and this step forward is important, because we have four strong riders, for a project that can grow quickly. The test days will be announced soon, and I can&rsquo;t wait to start&rdquo;.  Also because SBK continues to grow  &ldquo;Yes. In the past, private teams were unable to fight at the front, perhaps some managed it, but rarely so. While today we see many riders fighting for the podium and race wins. This is also clear to see in MotoGP, where various riders and teams can win. SBK is following the MotoGP trend, moving towards that same balance. More manufacturers now have chance to do well, we&rsquo;ve seen Toprak Razgatlioglu stand out with the Puccetti Kawasaki and last year we also saw Yamahas and Ducatis out front. Today&rsquo;s SBK is fantastic, and gives everyone a real possibility&rdquo;.    What&rsquo;s your 2021 goal?  &ldquo;I want to do better than in 2020. A lot better. I want to be stronger than I was last year, trying to be as quick as possible. I&rsquo;l work hard to improve, particularly in braking, that&rsquo;s an area of my riding I need to focus on. My aim is to push to score podium results&rdquo;.  Is the title a feasible goal for BMW?  &ldquo;We need to be realistic. Last winter, people were saying &lsquo;this year we&rsquo;ll fight for the title&rsquo;, but I knew that those saying that didn&rsquo;t understand how high the SBK level was, and still is. To try and beat Rea and Kawasaki, you need to take well-considered, precise steps, otherwise you risk going in the wrong direction. Winning an SBK championship takes patience and method&rdquo;.  Translated by Heather Watson  MotoGP: new yacht for Rossi, the Doctor sets sail in 2021 

In 2021 Eugene will compete with team RC Squadra Corse&rsquo;s BMW: &quot;To win a Superbike title, you need patience and method. My aim is to fight for the podium&quot;

4 risultati per 'EN Eugene Laverty'

WorldSBK: Laverty and RC Squadra Corse to miss the Assen Round

WorldSBK, Laverty (finally) in action with the BMW

SBK, Laverty and RC Squadra Corse see the light: first test in May

Laverty: “WorldSBK is like MotoGP, many riders can win”