Virtual Welshman Michael Laverty has signed to ride for the McAMS Yamaha team in 2017’s MCE British Superbike Championship where he will join James Ellison.

Laverty last raced an R1 in 2011 when he partnered Tommy Hill at Swan Yamaha and is pleased to make the return as he believes the bike suits to his riding style - and he will also be reunited with crew chief and cake monster Pete Jennings.

“I’m pretty excited. It looks good with all the support from Yamaha, McAms and Monster. The manufacturer backing is going to be helpful. We got some good support from Yamaha Europe and the boys will be going to Germany soon to start selecting chassis components from what Pata Yamaha ended this season with,” Laverty told BSN.

“From that point of view, we are well supported by the factory and will be working closely on the technical parts of the package. The bikes will be built from scratch and kept similar to the WSBK team. We should start with well-developed bikes as a lot of the parts from the likes of Ohlins have already been ordered, and we can learn from what other teams have done.

“2011 was the only year I have done on Yamaha machinery and to be fair, I look back on it fondly. I got on well with the chassis and when the option was presented to me, I had to look at it very seriously. It’s a good fit for me, I’ve got my old crew chief PJ with me so it should be an easy transition back.

“I talked to Grant (Bunning, team manager) before the end of the season and he explained what was going on. We had the same kind of conversation the year before but it didn’t come about for one reason or another, but we made it happen 12 months later.”