For a man who’s just been locked in a 180mph (290kph) head-to-head battle on a 600cc motorbike, watched by a crowd of thousands, Eugene Laverty is incredibly calm.
As mechanics, managers and photographers buzz around the Imola circuit pitlane, he sits, eyeing his race statistics pensively.
Only minutes earlier, he was running on adrenalin, racing at knuckle-whitening speed in the World Supersport championship against his title rival, Kenan Sofuoglu, in a two-bike battle that had their mechanics shouting in the garages and the Italian crowd on their feet.
Having traded places with his rival constantly during the race, on the final corner Laverty unleashed a do-or-die overtaking move to stay in with a chance of winning the 2010 title. But he lost control, the front of his bike slid and both riders went down. In the closest finish of the year, the pair ran back to their bikes only 100m from the finish line. Sofuoglu got away first, taking second place after his team-mate benefited from their tumble.
So, after 19 dramatic laps, Laverty had to settle for third. But now he’s a different being to the unrelenting competitor on track: composed, softly spoken and philosophical.
“I knew I had to do it in the last corner,” he says. “In the last few laps, the adrenalin’s flowing. All the noise disappears – it’s just me and my rival. It didn’t go my way. That’s racing.”
'The move to Superbikes is great. I’m ready' – Eugene Laverty
It’s this potent combination of raw talent, passion and level-headedness that’s singling the 24-year-old out from the pack in this dangerous and physically demanding sport. “Eugene’s very clever on the track,” says his Parkalgar Honda team manager Simon Buckmaster. “You may think he’s laid-back, but he considers everything and that’s a huge strength.”
A week later, at the season finale at Magny-Cours, France, Laverty is back on top, but despite emerging victorious from an unmatchable eight out of 13 races, it’s not enough to take the title and he ends the season, as in 2009, the runner-up. But it’s he, rather than Sofuoglu, who has secured a ride in World Superbikes next year, a more powerful class, and a feeder into the tier Laverty really wants to reach: MotoGP, where he dreams of competing against heroes such as Casey Stoner.
“That’s my ultimate goal,” he says. “So the move to Superbikes is great. I’m ready.”
This is the confidence you’d expect from a man who was on a motorbike before he could ride a bicycle.
“I come from a racing family, so I was in the saddle for the first time aged three,” he smiles. “I’d been riding a little bicycle with stabilisers. To my brothers, that meant I was ready for a motorbike.”
Starting off in motocross and progressing to road racing aged 14, Laverty followed his father and two older brothers into the saddle.
richiehopson.com/Red Bull Photofiles
“Now it’s everything to me,” he says, “my passion, my hobby, my work. I live and breathe motorcycle racing.”
In 2004 his talent was spotted by the Red Bull Rookies youth programme, and wins in the British 125 championship, 600cc British Supersport and 250 grand prix series followed. But it was here in Italy two years ago that Laverty’s career got a real fuel injection. He was offered a one-off ride in World Supersport, replacing an injured rider.
“But I crashed badly in America,” he says. “The Supersport race was the following weekend and I’d broken a bone in my left foot and my big toe on my right. The doctor said I couldn’t race, but I knew I had to. I was struggling with the gear lever as it’s on the left and you have to use a lot of force with it. It was excruciating. In practice I could only do two consecutive laps.”
Incredibly, Laverty not only completed the race, but finished a close third, a display of skill that won him his current ride with Parkalgar Honda.
“Eugene is a true contender,” says British World Superbike rider Jonathan Rea. “He looks like a nice schoolboy, but when the visor’s down he’s a fierce rival. He’ll be winning races in Superbikes next year.”
Now, as the last of the day’s sun leaves this hallowed patch of Italy, Laverty is in the garage, composed as ever, content in the knowledge that when he next races here he’ll be one step closer to his MotoGP goal.
“I’m staying focused on winning races,” he says. “The rest will take care of itself.”
Want more?
- For more great articles like this from this month's Red Bulletin magazine, click here
- Go on an interesting dinner date with Eugene here
- Visit eugenelaverty.com
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