As well as riding for Tyco BMW in the MCE British Superbike Championship, Michael Laverty is poised for a return to the MotoGP grid as an Aprilia wildcard in 2015 as part of his test rider duties for the Noale firm.

Laverty will form the backbone of the test outfit alongside multiple world champion Max Biaggi and will ride the new ART on the first day of Sepang testing on February 4 before going back to the track a couple of days later to test the 2016 Michelin tyres.

“Max and I are the test team for next season and I will be at Sepang one to do the intial shakedown on the new bike and do some electronic work on the 2014 bike before possibly doing some testing with the new Michelins later in the week,” said Laverty, speaking to bikesportnews.com

“When Aprilia offered the full test role deal to me originally, I said I wanted to keep racing and Biaggi expressed he was interested so they thought they could spread it between two riders.

“They said they would like to wildcard me in GPs on the new bike possibly later in the year or if they have something they need to test. I am really happy about that, like I said I have ticked all the boxes – I have done two years in GP and still get to use what I have learnt there.

“In the contract I have first refusal providing I am available for wildcards and replacement rides should Bautista or Melandri get injured and are unable to race. It also depends how many days Max wants to do and pretty much, I will do the rest.

“I’m happy with having both contracts – having a good competitive race contract with BMW in BSB and having a GP test rider contract and finally riding a 260bhp MotoGP bike when Aprilia get the new engine on track.”

Read more on this story in the new issue of Bikesport News, out on Thursday