McGuinness to Vitrans, Laverty to Beowulf.

As reported by Crash.net after the recent Cadwell Park British Superbike test, John McGuinness has taken up residence with the Vitrans team, replacing John Laverty.

The Silverstone BSB test was McGuinness's first time out on the Vitrans Honda: "It's ok, feels very different to the Yamaha, but I did plenty of laps in that first session just getting comfortable with it really," he said "John Laverty was a little bit smaller than me so it was a little bit cramped, so we've altered a few bits and pieces. It's nice to be back out there."

However, McGuinness admitted that Laverty losing the ride was a shame. "It was unfortunate. It would be easy to kick John in the slacks a bit really, but it ain't fair. He is a young rider, he is definitely talented, but maybe it was too early to get on a Superbike and maybe he lost his way a bit.

"I know what it's like, team morale goes down, the sponsors get a bit stressed about what is going on. I've worked with them (Vitrans team) before and I've got the experience. I do my best for every team that I ride for, and that is why I got the call and I said 'yes'," he concluded.

As for John Laverty - he is not still out in the cold - far from it: He has now landed a ride with the Beowulf World Superstock team and will make his debut with them this weekend at Brands.

"I certainly am happier, I'm riding a bike and that is the main thing," beamed the young Irish rider "I'm with the Beowulf guys on the Superstock bike and we are intending to do Brands Hatch this weekend and we'll see what happens from there, we'd like to contest the rest of the championship."

Laverty feels the team have the right attitude to help him do well: "It is good to be with an enthusiastic team who want to go forward and are willing to put all the effort into it. They have prepared a new bike for this weekend courtesy of V&J Superbikes, they've spent all week preparing. So here we are ready to go with plenty of spares and hopefully we will have a good weekend at Brands."

Not one to stand on the sidelines, Laverty contacted Beowulf team manger Andy Stone as soon as he heard he no longer had a BSB ride. "I approached Andy as soon as I heard the news. Andy was keen to have me do this wild card round anyway, as well as contesting the British Superbike rounds, so as soon as the British Superbikes went out the window he was keen to have me for the rest of the season. We'll see what happened after Brands Hatch and take it from there," he said.