Eugene Laverty will replace Hiroshi Aoyama as Nicky Hayden’s team mate at Drive M7 Aspar in 2015, adding even more to the fun side of MotoGP. After Aleix Espargaro and his younger brother Pol, Eugene closely missed being on the same grid with his brother Michael, who now rides for PBM.
Still, while Jack Miller is the youngest debutant in the MotoGP class, jumping straight from Moto3, Eugene Laverty is the oldest, aged 27. At 33, his brother is also a well-seasoned rider, but whose team Paul Bird Motorsport will no longer compete in the premier class next year.
A World Supersport runner-up in 2009 and 2010, and finishing the 2013 World Superbike Championship in the second position, Eugene Laverty caught the attention of Aspar and was finally offered a MotoGP seat aboard a Honda RC213V-RS. Pramac Ducati was also interested in the youngest of the Laverty brothers, but by the time they made an offer, he had already accepted Aspar’s. Eugene says that he has two reference points in 2015, one being his team mate Nicky Hayden and the other the 19-year-old Aussie Jack Miller who is also a rookie.
Loris Baz is currently 5th in the WSBK ranking, compared to Eugene Laverty who is 9th, and the gap between them is significant, with the French having earned 282 points, whereas the Irishman only counting 154.
NGM’s Giovanni Cuzari had to deal with quite a lot of changes this year. With Colin Edwards’ early retirement, he had to recruit Alex de Angelis as a replacement rider, and this move turned out to be a good one, as De Angelis managed to ear 7 points. Then Yamaha said it will no longer offer a full racing package and the team’s top rider Aleix Espargaro was confirmed as a Suzuki factory rider. However, as Honda decided to provide the leased bikes with a more generous set of competitive features, Yamaha revisited their decision and offered NGM Forward the chance to use the 2014-sped M1 engine and frame components.
Currently Marc Marquez is leading the MotoGP classification, with 292 points, with his team mate Dani Pedrosa in the runner-up position with 217. Still, Valentino Rossi is dangerously close to Pedrosa, only 3 points down. With 202 points, Jorge Lorenzo is 4th, but his chances of a higher rank and beating Rossi this year are pretty slim, provided none of the top riders is injured to the extent that he’s no longer able to race through the end of the championship. As for Dovizioso, he’s just fine in the 5th position with 142 points, even though he is still within striking range of the Espargaro brothers, Aleix (112) and Pol (108).
To win the championship at Motegi, Marquez definitely has to finish ahead of Pedrosa, and not lose more than three points to Rossi, or 15 points to Jorge Lorenzo. While this would have seemed easy as pie in the first half of the season, the last races proved that Marquez can make mistakes… and his rivals are not likely to miss the chances to draw nearer.
Even more, Pedrosa has the most victories at the Twin Ring, with 2 in MotoGP and other two in smaller classes. At the same time, Rossi will be eager to make up for the points he lost in his early-race crash a Aragon a fortnight ago. Happy to have escaped the very nasty high-side crash without serious injuries, The Doctor will be in for a tough battle, as well.
Leitner, and Pedrosa go back a long time, with the two being together in the GP box since 2004, and having won a 250cc World Title and no less than 41 victories in MotoGP. Still without a premier class title, it looks like Pedrosa is still confident that his actual team can help him fill in this burning gap. Most likely not this year, but there’s still hope for the 28-year-old rider.
A World Supersport runner-up in 2009 and 2010, and finishing the 2013 World Superbike Championship in the second position, Eugene Laverty caught the attention of Aspar and was finally offered a MotoGP seat aboard a Honda RC213V-RS. Pramac Ducati was also interested in the youngest of the Laverty brothers, but by the time they made an offer, he had already accepted Aspar’s. Eugene says that he has two reference points in 2015, one being his team mate Nicky Hayden and the other the 19-year-old Aussie Jack Miller who is also a rookie.
Baz, another Frenchman on the grid
NGM Forward Racing Team is happy to announce that an agreement was reached with the French World Superbike rider Loris Baz, who will ride one of the team’s bikes in 2015. Currently being a Kawasaki factory rider in the WSBK championship, he will have Stefan Bradl as team mate.Loris Baz is currently 5th in the WSBK ranking, compared to Eugene Laverty who is 9th, and the gap between them is significant, with the French having earned 282 points, whereas the Irishman only counting 154.
NGM’s Giovanni Cuzari had to deal with quite a lot of changes this year. With Colin Edwards’ early retirement, he had to recruit Alex de Angelis as a replacement rider, and this move turned out to be a good one, as De Angelis managed to ear 7 points. Then Yamaha said it will no longer offer a full racing package and the team’s top rider Aleix Espargaro was confirmed as a Suzuki factory rider. However, as Honda decided to provide the leased bikes with a more generous set of competitive features, Yamaha revisited their decision and offered NGM Forward the chance to use the 2014-sped M1 engine and frame components.
Math for Marc Marquez’ second MotoGP title
2014’s 15th MotoGP round will take place this weekend at the Honda-built Twin Ring Motegi circuit, and it’s time for the math to barge into the premier class news. That is, because the Japanese round could bring Marc Marquez an early confirmation of his second MotoGP title, in case a set of certain results do occur.Currently Marc Marquez is leading the MotoGP classification, with 292 points, with his team mate Dani Pedrosa in the runner-up position with 217. Still, Valentino Rossi is dangerously close to Pedrosa, only 3 points down. With 202 points, Jorge Lorenzo is 4th, but his chances of a higher rank and beating Rossi this year are pretty slim, provided none of the top riders is injured to the extent that he’s no longer able to race through the end of the championship. As for Dovizioso, he’s just fine in the 5th position with 142 points, even though he is still within striking range of the Espargaro brothers, Aleix (112) and Pol (108).
To win the championship at Motegi, Marquez definitely has to finish ahead of Pedrosa, and not lose more than three points to Rossi, or 15 points to Jorge Lorenzo. While this would have seemed easy as pie in the first half of the season, the last races proved that Marquez can make mistakes… and his rivals are not likely to miss the chances to draw nearer.
Even more, Pedrosa has the most victories at the Twin Ring, with 2 in MotoGP and other two in smaller classes. At the same time, Rossi will be eager to make up for the points he lost in his early-race crash a Aragon a fortnight ago. Happy to have escaped the very nasty high-side crash without serious injuries, The Doctor will be in for a tough battle, as well.
Pedrosa stays with mechanic Mike Leitner
Dani Pedrosa announced he will retain the services of his current crew chief, the Austrian Mike Leitner, 52. The Spaniard was believed to consider making the same changes like Valentino Rossi did fairly recently, and change his chief mechanic. Rossi parted with Jeremy Burgess and brought in Silvano Galbusera… and the move turned out to deliver good results.Leitner, and Pedrosa go back a long time, with the two being together in the GP box since 2004, and having won a 250cc World Title and no less than 41 victories in MotoGP. Still without a premier class title, it looks like Pedrosa is still confident that his actual team can help him fill in this burning gap. Most likely not this year, but there’s still hope for the 28-year-old rider.
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