IN
THE
WIND
P56
Laverty to BMW WorldSBK
I
rishman Eugene Laverty will ride for the
factory BMW squad in the 2020 WorldS-
BK Championship after inking a deal to
replace Germany's Markus Reiterberger.
Laverty, a 13-time WorldSBK race win-
ner, has endured a 2019 season blighted
by injury on the GoEleven Ducati Panigale
V4 R and currently sits sixth in the stand-
ings at 41 points.
"First of all, we have got to thank
Markus Reiterberger for his commitment
and efforts," said team manager, Sean
Muir. "Equally, I'm delighted to welcome
Eugene Laverty into the BMW Motorrad
WorldSBK Team for 2020.
"Eugene joins the team and brings
with him a wealth of quality and experi-
ence. We strongly believe that he can
be a firm challenger for the podium and
have a strong championship.
"As soon as he hits the track at pre-
season testing in November, the bike will
be on another level and I think that the
combination of his experience and his
speed will be a welcome addition to the
WorldSBK project."
Tom Sykes will continue with the team
as Laverty's teammate in 2020. CN
Laverty will return
to the Sean Muir-
led team in 2020
after a season to
forget in 2019.
