World Superbike star Leon Camier produced his best ride of the season so far finishing just off of the podium in today’s second race at Donington Park in England.
Camier was lucky to escape a first corner crash – that cost him some valuable time – and then got stuck behind Eugene Laverty, before passing the Irishman and chasing down the group in front. Camier caught and passed Sylvain Guintoli and looked to be heading for a comfortable, and impressive, sixth before drama on the last corner saw the BMWs of Leon Haslam and Marco Melandri collide. This incident gave Camier the chance to take an unexpected, but ultimately well deserved fourth place finish. His pace in the latter parts of the race matched the front-runners and, but for the avoiding action he had to take on the first corner, he could have been right amongst the battle for podium honours. Camier made it a double of top-10 finishes today after bringing his Yoshimura-powered Suzuki GSX-R home in a hard-fought ninth in the first race.
The World Superbike Championship will now head across the Atlantic for the sixth round, as it travels to Miller Park near Salt Lake City in the state of Utah for the next race on Monday 28th May, where Leon hopes to build upon the improvements made this weekend.
Leon Camier:“I had the pace this weekend to be with the top guys and it felt good fighting and catching them today. In race one, there was a problem with the brakes and I couldn’t get into the turns the way I wanted and that prevented me from catching the guys at the front. We changed to a softer rear tyre for race two. My start was OK and if I hadn’t been held up for so long by Laverty and Guintoli I’m sure I would’ve been challenging for the podium at the end. It was a really enjoyable race and great fun catching people and passing them.”
Jack Valentine – Team Manager:“We’ve had a much better weekend here at Donington than we have had recently and it’s been good to see some smiles returning to the garage. Leon rode fantastically in the second race and could easily have been challenging for the podium if he’d have gotten away with the front group and not been held up.
“I would also like to thank the whole crew who worked tirelessly this weekend to give Leon and Peter [Leon’s temporary teammate] bikes that they could be competitive on. We will now go to Miller in a positive frame of mind and hopefully we’ll have John back with us.”
Paul Denning – Team Principal:“This weekend has been the strongest for the team since the start of the season. The only blip was in race one when Leon struggled with a combination of braking problems and tyre choice, and Peter had an electrical problem. An earth lead connector broke, but the team fixed it and got him out again, so that he could get some more laps under his belt. Race two showed the true potential of the FIXI Crescent Suzuki GSX-R. For Leon to finish just four seconds down on the race winner after a difficult start is a fabulous performance.”

1. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’28.828
2. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’28.872
3. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’29.021
4. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1’29.199
5. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1’29.240
6. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’29.260
7. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’29.315
8. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1’29.338
9. Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’29.497
10. Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1’29.579
11. Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) Ducati 1098R 1’29.589
12. Maxime Berger (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’29.630
13. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1’29.692
14. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’29.763
15. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1’29.986
16. Niccolò Canepa (Red Devils Roma) Ducati 1098R 1’30.046
17. Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’30.084
18. Peter Hickman (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’30.108
19. Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’30.780
20. Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 1’31.209
21. Mark Aitchison (Grillini Progea Superbike Team) BMW S1000 RR 1’31.446
22. Leandro Mercado (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’32.269
23. Gary Mason (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’33.285

After an incredibly impressive day on track, FIXI Crescent Suzuki racer Leon Camier will start tomorrow’s fifth round World Superbike races at Donington from the second row of the grid after qualifying in seventh.Camier easily booked his place in this afternoon’s Superpole after a strong final qualifying this morning, which saw the Englishman lead the timesheets in the closing minutes of the session. Camier recorded the seventh and eighth quickest times respectively in Superpole 1 and 2, before finally setting a time of 1’28.551 in Superpole 3, narrowly missing out on a front row grid position by just two-tenths-of-a-second, even though his time was over three-tenths-of-a-second faster than the current lap record.Camier will line up for Sunday’s first race at 12.00hrs local time (13.00hrs CEST); with the second outing scheduled for 15.30hrs local time (16.30hrs CEST).Leon Camier:“That was pretty close to getting our first front row start of the year and I am a little disappointed that I didn’t quite manage it. It’s been good to put in a decent number of laps and because of that we’ve been able to improve the bike and the electronics. I did a long stint on a hard tyre and set some good and consistent lap times. Although the front row of the grid would’ve been great, as long as I make good starts, I expect to be mixing it with the leaders going into turn one.”Jack Valentine – Team Manager:“Today was another really satisfying day and just what the team needed. I’m very pleased with our performance over these two days and hopefully the improvement will continue tomorrow. Leon has done a great job and has been with the top guys in every practice and qualifying. If he could’ve found just a fraction of a second in one of the sectors he would’ve been on the front row for sure.”Paul Denning – Team Principal:“With the run of bad luck we’ve had since the start of the season, it’s nice to have a solid couple of days and see the riders get into a rhythm. We’ve been able to improve both the setting and performance of the FIXI Crescent Suzuki and have made positive steps forward. Leon has been running with the leaders all weekend and only just missed out on the front row of the grid. His race pace has been consistently fast and I’m sure he’ll be a contender tomorrow.”

1 66 T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’27.716 2 91 L. HASLAM GBR BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 1’27.864 3 33 M. MELANDRI ITA BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 1’28.177 4 3 M. BIAGGI ITA Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’28.340 5 50 S. GUINTOLI FRA Team Effenbert Liberty Racing Ducati 1098R 1’28.420 6 65 J. REA GBR Honda World Superbike Team Honda CBR1000RR 1’28.546 7 2 L. CAMIER GBR FIXI Crescent Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’28.5518 96 J. SMRZ CZE Liberty Racing Team Effenbert Ducati 1098R 1’28.785 ————————————————– Superpole 2 ————————————————–9 7 C. CHECA ESP Althea Racing Ducati 1098R 1’28.497 10 86 A. BADOVINI ITA BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet BMW S1000 RR 1’28.614 11 84 M. FABRIZIO ITA BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet BMW S1000 RR 1’28.683 12 58 E. LAVERTY IRL Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’29.032 ————————————————– Superpole 1 ————————————————–13 34 D. GIUGLIANO ITA Althea Racing Ducati 1098R 1’29.236 14 59 N. CANEPA ITA Red Devils Roma Ducati 1098R 1’29.319 15 121 M. BERGER FRA Team Effenbert Liberty Racing Ducati 1098R 1’29.371 16 19 C. DAVIES GBR ParkinGO MTC Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’29.493 ————————————————– Others in Grid ————————————————–17 4 H. AOYAMA JPN Honda World Superbike Team Honda CBR1000RR 1’30.008 18 76 L. BAZ FRA Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’30.237 19 60 P. HICKMAN GBR FIXI Crescent Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’30.296 20 87 L. ZANETTI ITA PATA Racing Team Ducati 1098R 1’30.402 21 18 M. AITCHISON AUS Grillini Progea Superbike Team BMW S1000 RR 1’31.102 22 36 L. MERCADO ARG Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’31.540 23 101 G. MASON GBR Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’33.103

1 65 J. REA GBR Honda World Superbike Team Honda CBR1000RR 1’28.856 2 7 C. CHECA ESP Althea Racing Ducati 1098R 1’28.905 3 91 L. HASLAM GBR BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 1’29.091 4 96 J. SMRZ CZE Liberty Racing Team Effenbert Ducati 1098R 1’29.139 5 66 T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’29.144 6 33 M. MELANDRI ITA BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 1’29.148 7 2 L. CAMIER GBR FIXI Crescent Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’29.153 8 3 M. BIAGGI ITA Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’29.194 9 50 S. GUINTOLI FRA Team Effenbert Liberty Racing Ducati 1098R 1’29.203 10 58 E. LAVERTY IRL Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’29.332 11 34 D. GIUGLIANO ITA Althea Racing Ducati 1098R 1’29.470 12 84 M. FABRIZIO ITA BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet BMW S1000 RR 1’29.579 13 59 N. CANEPA ITA Red Devils Roma Ducati 1098R 1’29.713 14 86 A. BADOVINI ITA BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet BMW S1000 RR 1’29.72715 19 C. DAVIES GBR ParkinGO MTC Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’30.194 16 76 L. BAZ FRA Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’30.383 17 4 H. AOYAMA JPN Honda World Superbike Team Honda CBR1000RR 1’30.432 18 60 P. HICKMAN GBR FIXI Crescent Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’30.490 19 121 M. BERGER FRA Team Effenbert Liberty Racing Ducati 1098R 1’30.682 20 18 M. AITCHISON AUS Grillini Progea Superbike Team BMW S1000 RR 1’30.96421 87 L. ZANETTI ITA PATA Racing Team Ducati 1098R 1’32.001 22 36 L. MERCADO ARG Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’32.267 23 101 G. MASON GBR Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’32.681