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Laverty will only stay in MotoGP with newer bike

Eugene Laverty says he will only stay in MotoGP in 2017 if he can get his hands on a more up-to-date bike, dismissing the possibility of sticking with two-year-old machinery.

Eugene Laverty, Aspar MotoGP Team

Eugene Laverty, Aspar MotoGP Team

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Eugene Laverty, Aspar MotoGP Team
Eugene Laverty, Aspar MotoGP Team
Eugene Laverty, Aspar MotoGP Team
Eugene Laverty, Aspar MotoGP Team
Eugene Laverty, Aspar MotoGP Team
Alvaro Bautista, Aprilia Gresini Racing Team
Yonny Hernandez, Aspar Racing Team

The Irish rider currently campaigns a Ducati GP14.2 for the Aspar team, effectively riding the bike that was used by the factory Ducati team in the latter part of 2014.

His contract with Aspar expires at the end of the current season, and his place at the team is in doubt after Aprilia refugee Alvaro Bautista confirmed he was in talks with the Spanish outfit.

Laverty is believed to have options to return to World Superbikes, where he competed with success prior to joining MotoGP in 2015, but says he could be tempted to stay if he is able to progress to a year-old Ducati.

“My contract comes to an end at the end of this year, and I’m interested to continue here with a better bike - if there’s a GP16, I’m definitely interested,” he told BT Sport.

“But to ride a GP15, I wouldn’t be interested. Although it will be better than the current bike, it will still be a two-year old bike. What I want is a GP16, to get a better shot at it.

“I’m sizing up Superbike as well because there are some factory options there on race-winning machinery, and that would be a great opportunity as well.”

However, Bautista – whose Aprilia exit was finally confirmed on Sunday with the announcement of Aleix Espargaro’s arrival – suggested that Aspar would indeed be racing with a pair of Ducati GP16s next season.

“[Aspar] has already told me that we would have a 2016 Ducati, which of course is interesting,” said Bautista, a former Aspar rider in the 125cc and 250cc classes.

Motorsport.com understands that the Aspar line-up is likely to comprise Bautista and one of Aspar’s existing riders, either Laverty or his teammate Yonny Hernandez, whose presence on the MotoGP grid is of strategic importance to Dorna as the series' sole Latin American.

Additional reporting by Oriol Puigdemont

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