Eugène Laverty is one of those pilots who revealed themselves late because their only fault was having to complete the course alone. A category which no longer has the merit of reaching the top and which arouses a lot of regret when economic imperatives force one to part with it. A bitterness which already inhabits an Aspar team not very happy to let go of its Irishman in this way.
The case Laverty is special. Everyone at Aspar wants to keep him but ultimately the impossible was not done to keep him.
The boss, Jorge Martinez first decided to bet on the return of his prodigal son Alvaro Bautista who will enjoy a GP16 in 2017. For the second driver, the GP15 was promised to him. Officially, it was this plan that did not convince Laverty. The field man Gino Borsoi precise on crash.net : “we couldn't get a second GP16 from Ducati, so he decided to leave us.”
On its basis, the windfall was acquired for Yonny Hernandez, the Irishman's current teammate. Except that the rumor of a Karel Abraham for a paid return in MotoGP has brought up to date the idea of the need for a resident with a budget within the team. But the same Borsoi insists: “No, it’s not a question of money. We were ready to increase the budget for a second GP16, but Ducati cannot supply more GP16s. It's the sad truth ".
In short, whose act. But we are aware at Aspar that we will lose a lot with this departure: “We are not happy because we are losing a really good driver. We are currently having a good season and he has finished in the points every time. Only once he missed them and it was not his fault”. But the responsibility of a Petrucci in Austria. “We really need such a driver in our box but unfortunately, we will not be able to continue the adventure next year”.
Aged 30, Eugène Laverty will return to Aprilia and Superbike with the firm intention of going for the title. The Irishman worked well and is currently eleventh overall with 71 points just behind Hector Barberá. A regularity that will not be easy to repeat, even for a Bautista: “We believe that Álvaro can achieve good results in 2017 with the GP16. On the one hand because he is a good driver, and we saw him recently in Aragon where he had a top 10 with the Aprilia. And then we have good memories with him”. Including a world title in 125cc.
“We know he has the potential. We expect to see him fight for the top 10 in every race! » Laverty gave Gino Borsoi good habits.
