Continuing to fly the flag MLav Racing
Michael Laverty’s project expands further into the JuniorGP World Championship
MLav Racing will step up yet another gear this year following a deal with Dorna that will see the team field two riders in the JuniorGP World Championship.
It adds another crucial step on the ladder for British riders bidding to make it to MotoGP, with Eddie O’Shea and Evan Belford racing in the series. The initial three-year deal with Dorna is the beginning of what owner Michael Laverty describes as a “10-year plan to get the next young riders into GP.”
MCN sat down with Laverty to discuss the year ahead…
What can we expect from Eddie O’Shea?
“At the end of 2023 Eddie was in the top five in JuniorGP and most of the riders who stepped up out of there will be at the front of Moto3 this year. He was really fast! He had a bad injury for over a year and never really showed his potential in Red Bull Rookies, but now in JuniorGP, he’s on the top level.
“He rode in the Valencia Moto3 test when Scott Ogden and Josh Whatley were injured and he was inside the top 15 on day one, only 1.5s off top spot. He was a joy to work with.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do with us and then hopefully when he turns 18 later this year, maybe we can get him a wildcard in Moto3.”
‘At the end of 2023 Eddie was in the top five’
And of Evan Belford?
“Evan won the British Talent Cup (BTC) last year and has gone through the UK system. He’ll do RedBull Rookies alongside JuniorGP. It will be tough as he doesn’t have the experience at that level, but he has seven JuniorGP rounds against the best in the world, so his role is more about development – start scoring points and then into the top 10.
“We’re being realistic with Evan as it’s going to be a tough step. Usually when you win BTC, you go into the European Talent Cup (ETC) before JuniorGP, but we had the space following Casey O’Gorman’s departure and we thought, ‘Evan is a tall rider, let’s move him straight in’. He’s in at the deep end.”
Johnny Garness is named in your ETC team, how is his recovery going?
“He won’t start the season but once he’s fit and ready, there’s a bike waiting for him. We recently saw a specialist and they’ve asked him to give it another six months. Johnny feels like he can ride now, the signs are good with his neck. The bones are healing and he’s so young, he has the human growth hormone going through his system, so he just needs to give it time.
“BTC frontrunner Amanuel Brinton and Argentinian rider Marco Morelli, who we believe will be a title contender, will be our riders in ETC, whilst we have six riders in the BTC who will run under the Fibre Tec Honda banner.”
How crucial is 2024 for Scott and Josh in Moto3 ?
“It’s easy to overlook the progress they’ve made. Josh made big strides in the second half of 2024. I was really happy, he worked hard on his fitness and got within a second of the front pack.
“Scott started strongly, was fast in testing, finished fifth in
Argentina and had front row starts in India and at Silverstone, but had a tough second half of the year.
“There’s a new bike from Honda, which looks similar, but it has a new engine, exhaust, airbox, fairing, aero package around the wheel and new suspension. I think it will be a good step and hopefully it can give the riders a chance to challenge KTM more. It was hard last year, the KTM had more punch off the turns.
“We had the exact same engines as the other teams, but it’s hard for Honda riders to fight the KTMs when there are so many of them out there. I hope this new bike gives them a step and the confidence to grow even further.”
Should they be worried about talent coming up?
“Honestly, if I was in their position I’d be starting to think, ‘Eddie is
there and then Casey [O’Gorman] is coming next, so I have to step up this year’.
“For some, it will motivate and push them on, which is what I want to happen, while for others they’ll feel it’s a pressure situation. They have 21 races so there’s no pressure for those 21 races, but in 2025 we will likely have at least one new rider onboard.
“We’ve had the same two riders for three years due to the age change, so next year Eddie will be old enough and if he’s fast enough, he will come up. Eddie still has to perform, but Scott and Josh also have to perform to keep their seat, or hopefully do really well and move up into Moto2, that would be my dream.
“If we ever get the funding and a spot opens up in Moto2, I’d like to have a team in that class. We’ve spoken seriously with Dorna about it, so it could be a realistic possibility. That’s a goal I have, because you then have all the steps: BTC, ETC, JGP, Moto3 and Moto2. The full ladder to MotoGP, that is my ultimate goal.”
How do you feel the project is going?
“It’s been tougher than I’d anticipated. It’s been hard to get the backing we need. I thought if we started to show that we’re really helping British riders, it’d be easier to entice companies to support us, but it’s been difficult.
“I’ve had to stay the course a little and really push on with the British theme. It’s been tempting to go with the Asian rider or the French rider who comes with the sponsors… It’s tempting because it makes your life so much easier, but we have an ethos that we want to create the next British MotoGP rider, and we’re sticking to it.
“The hard bit is getting funding, chasing sponsors, putting proposals together, knocking on doors, working on something for a month and it’s just a no at the end of it.
“It’s demoralising sometimes when you have something in the bag, and it falls apart. That’s business for you, learning business and marketing lessons.”
That’s an ongoing issue in the UK. It’s not like Spain…
“I couldn’t believe the money in the JuniorGP paddock. For a national paddock that only streams on YouTube, and it doesn’t have a huge fanbase or number of spectators through the gate. But these teams have some huge sponsors.
“Our budget to run two European Talent Cup and two JGP riders is close to £600K. Dorna support us with a decent level of that, but we still need to find a lot of money.
“In Spain they can go knocking on Repsol’s or Estrella Galicia’s door and get £100,000 of sponsorship where we have to go and do what we can to find £20,000-£50,000.
“It’s still not easy for them, but they have big companies interested in backing their riders because it’s a household sport in their country, whereas for us, it’s not.”
‘Moving Scott or Josh to Moto2 is my dream’