After a World Superbike career lasting 16 years Eugene Laverty deserved a fairy tale ending, but was instead airlifted to hospital after crashing out of the season-ending event in Australia.
The Northern Ireland rider, who was twice championship runner-up, crashed out of his final race and was flown to hospital with pelvic injuries.
The Bonovo BMW rider crashed with Spain's Xavi Fores as the pair battled for position with five laps remaining of race two at the Phillip Island circuit. The race was red-flagged and Laverty was left with pain to his right leg and pelvis. He was reported to be conscious, according to the BBC.
Spanish world champion Alvaro Bautista won the race taking his 16th victory of the season ahead of Northern Ireland's Jonathan Rea in second and England's Alex Lowes in third.
Laverty has struggled for form this season with a season's best finish on 10th position in both Catalunya and Aragon. The Northern Ireland rider finished his career with 13 World Superbike race wins and 35 podium finishes. After being offered a management role and a stake in the ownership of Bonovo BMW racing team he decided to retire.
"(Team owner) Jurgen Roder and (team manager) Michael Galinski made this proposal to me and I really appreciate that they believe I can fulfil this role," Laverty told Motorsport.com.
“I wanted to finish in a strong way with some decent results, but obviously after the last rounds I had to change my thinking a little bit, as I’m having some difficulties.
"I really enjoy to be part of this team though, as it’s probably the best team I’ve ever ridden in during my career. And opportunities like this don’t come along very often.
"Jurgen has been looking for some fresh blood to entrust with the future of the team, but also someone with experience. This will be a completely different path of my career. It’s going to be a very interesting new challenge for me and I’ll have a lot to learn from Jurgen and Michael.
