Leon completed over 160-laps of the 5,344m Spanish circuit as he worked thorough a huge test programme with his crew to gain valuable information in readiness for next season.

The team continued to find improvements in the FIXI Crescent Suzuki and were able to get excellent feedback regarding the 17 inch wheels that everybody will be using next year. Despite strong winds that sometimes made the conditions difficult during the three days, the Yoshimura-powered GSX-R1000 showed a big improvement on the team’s previous visit to Aragon earlier in the year and leaves the whole crew in positive spirits as it plans ahead to its second season in the Superbike World Championship.

Leon Camier:
“Overall, I think these tests have been very productive and we’ve been consistently fast throughout. I’m a little frustrated that the winds came up this afternoon, because otherwise I’m sure I would’ve gone quite a bit quicker. The FIXI Crescent Suzuki has come on so much since when we were here in June and as long as we can keep on improving, I’m sure we can be competitive. At the moment, I feel that there’s more work to be done on the 17 inch wheels, but the good news is that we’re not that far off. We only had some standard 17 inchers here, so I’m sure that the next set will be much better.”

Jack Valentine – Team Manager:
“The aim of these tests was mainly to try the 17 inch wheels we’ll all be using next year. We tried them briefly here in Aragon earlier this year, but over the three days this week we were able to do a lot more work with them. Also, we wanted to compare our new found performance with what we had when we raced here in June. Aragon is a demanding track and good acceleration and power are important and we found our performance gain has increased enormously and that has made all of us at FIXI Crescent Suzuki pretty happy.

“Over the three days we’ve done a lot of work on the electronics -because of the difference in the wheel size – and have also been able to test a couple of Yoshimura engines and get some really good feedback. The team has tried some different chassis combinations – once again to do with the 17 inch wheels – so that we can get the very best out of the bike. We started the test on 16.5 inch wheels and the bike as it finished the season and Leon managed to break the lap record on day one. The acceleration and top speed have been improved and once again it shows how far we’ve come since the eighth round. Leon’s great lap times on the 17 inch wheels are a bonus and his performance here bodes well for the future.

“Overall, I’m really, really pleased with these tests. According to the Pirelli technician, if we’d been racing, we would’ve been challenging for the podium and that’s a great feeling with which to end the season.”

The provisional date for the first round of 2013 is Sunday 24th February, at the Phillip Island Circuit in Australia.

Camier had made his way up to sixth place by the end of lap nine in race one, despite the treacherous conditions caused by heavy rain around the 4,411m French circuit. He then suffered a huge crash which resulted in him being catapulted off his Yoshimura-powered GSX-R and into the gravel. The Englishman was pinned under his machine and could only get to his feet once the marshals had removed his bike, he made his own way back to the pits, but was obviously in a lot of pain.

Camier was passed fit for the second 23-lap race and lined up in the drier conditions in ninth on the grid. He made a poor start as he tried to adapt to the battering his body had suffered – mostly down his left-hand side – and because of a problem with the electronics, probably due to the crash in the first race, which made the bike very hard to ride. By the end of the second lap he was down in 17th, but Camier re-grouped and began to pick off riders in-front of him throughout the race. He made his way up to 10th by the start of the penultimate lap and held the position to the end of the race, despite being in considerable discomfort.

Leon and his FIXI Crescent Suzuki team will have a test at Aragon later this month. The provisional date for the first round of 2013 is Sunday 24th February at the Phillip Island Circuit in Australia.

Leon Camier:
“I am really happy with our performance in wet conditions, but race one was neither wet, nor dry and that is the worst possible scenario. All was going OK until I came out of turn 11 and was high-sided. I was flipped into the air and came down heavily on my left arm and head and then the bike landed on top of me and I couldn’t move. It seemed ages before it was removed and I was able to get up. I felt pretty sore, but luckily I hadn’t broken anything, even though my left arm had taken a right old battering.

“The FIXI Crescent Suzuki was in a bit of mess, but the boys did a great job to get it ready in time for race two and we lined up on the grid OK. Right from the start, I felt that the bike wasn’t quite right – not surprising really after its big crash – and it was difficult to ride. The electronics didn’t feel quite right and I didn’t get a great start, but I was determined to bring the bike home and that’s what I did. Although the season didn’t end the way I hoped, the progress the team have made with the FIXI Crescent Suzuki makes me feel very optimistic about the future. The bike has come on leaps-and-bounds since the beginning of the season and I’m already looking forward to my next time on it – once I’ve rested my left arm a bit!”

Jack Valentine – Team Manager:
“It has been probably the strangest season I’ve known, but the good news is that, thanks to all the hard work the team have done, we’ve shown that the FIXI Crescent Suzuki can be a competitive bike and run with the best. It was a pity that the conditions were so treacherous in the first race, making life hard for everybody – but that’s how racing is sometimes. Leon took real hammering in the crash and it took a lot of guts for him to get on the bike in race two and, all things considered, I think he did really well to get a top-10 finish.”

2. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 38’17.079

3. Sylvain Guintoli (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 38’18.118

4. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 38’28.847

5. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 38’29.680

6. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 38’33.954

7. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 38’34.155

8. Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 38’42.373

9. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 38’49.534

10. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 38’52.942

11. Maxime Berger (Red Devils Roma) Ducati 1098R 38’54.596

12. Claudio Corti (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 39’11.439

13. Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 39’13.346

14. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 39’21.212

15. Norino Brignola (Grillini Progea Superbike Team) BMW S1000 RR 38’30.959

RT. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 25’10.160

RT. Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 13’29.654

RT. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 8’23.176

RT. Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 8’27.831

2. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 44’12.426

3. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 44’22.894

4. Maxime Berger (Red Devils Roma) Ducati 1098R 44’28.156

5. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 44’31.448

6. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 44’39.077

7. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 44’40.610

8. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 44’53.568

9. Claudio Corti (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 44’56.019

10. Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 44’56.491

11. Norino Brignola (Grillini Progea Superbike Team) BMW S1000 RR 44’07.829

12. Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 44’30.357

13. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 45’54.249

RT. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 17’30.576

RT. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 13’28.550

RT. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 24’38.833

RT. Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 9’56.432

RT. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 3’53.814

RT. Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2’00.448

Camier completed the deal shortly before this weekend’s final round of the season at Magny-Cours in France and will sign a one-year extension to his current contract. The former British Superbike Champion joined the Crescent Suzuki squad for its first season in WSBK this year and has been influential in steering the Yoshimura-powered Suzuki GSX-R to its current position, not only because of his racing ability – which saw the FIXI Crescent Suzuki team takes its first podium in World Superbikes with Camier on board – but also from an engineering point of view with his valuable technical input.

The agreement with Camier follows hot-on-the-heels of the news that FIXI will remain as title sponsor for the team’s attack on the World Superbike Championship in 2013 and that Team Principal Paul Denning will take over the day-to-day running of the team. News on Camier’s team-mate will be announced soon, as the FIXI Crescent Suzuki squad finalises its plans for next year.

Leon Camier:
“I am so happy to continue working with FIXI Crescent Suzuki and the whole team. We had a tough start to 2012, but the guys have all worked so hard to turn things around and we are now more competitive and close to the podium. I really wanted to stay here and continue with what we have started and to win races on the Suzuki, which is still the target and will be our main focus for 2013. The whole team is totally focused on succeeding in WSBK and with everything that is happening at the moment we are heading in that direction – it feels good to be a part of it.”

Paul Denning – Team Principal:
“To secure the deal with Leon is a very important step in achieving the team’s 2013 targets. He was at the forefront of our thoughts when we originally planned to bring Crescent Suzuki to World Superbikes and his input, positive attitude and hard work through the first season has helped push us to a more competitive level. He is now regularly challenging the front guys and we are sure the plans we have in place for 2013 will see him regularly fighting for the podium. He has been a great asset to the whole team and his professionalism is obvious to all. We are all looking forward to working with him again and making sure he is in a position to be pushing for victories in 2013.”

Camier – who announced today that he will be remaining with the FIXI Crescent Suzuki team for next season – easily qualified for this afternoon’s Superpole by finishing in 13th position in this morning’s final timed practice. He made his way comfortably through Superpole 1 with the 10th quickest time around the 4,411m French track and then narrowly missed out on progressing to the final eight-rider shoot-out for the front two rows, by just 0.093 seconds. Camier looked like making Superpole 3, and was on his fast lap on a qualifying tyre, but had to ease off the throttle when Max Biaggi made a mistake at the final chicane right in front of him. Although the FIXI Crescent Suzuki man only lost a-fraction-of-a-second, it was enough to prevent him from getting into the final session. Camier will be looking to end the season in style, as he now looks to begin his preparation for 2013, now that his future with the team is sealed.

Camier will take to the Magny-Cours circuit for the 23-laps of race one at 12.00hrs local time (11.00hrs BST) on Sunday, with race two scheduled to get underway at 15.30hrs local time (14.30hrs BST).

Leon Camier:
“If it hadn’t been for the incident in Superpole 2, I reckon I would’ve made it into Superpole 3. The margin between success and failure is so small and when you lose even a-fraction-of-a-second, it can make a big difference. But that’s what racing’s all about and once again I’m going to have to get good starts and get with the lead group as soon as I can. I know my race pace is good and the FIXI Crescent Suzuki is strong at the end of the races, so I’m pretty confident that I can be in the mix at the finish. The first turn is going to be very hectic for sure and, apart from making good starts, I need to keep out of trouble and then attack as soon as I can.”

Jack Valentine – Team Manager:
“Once again we’ve seen how competitive this series is and the smallest of differences can make or break your grid position. It’s a shame that Leon missed out on Superpole 3, but we know what he and the FIXI Crescent Suzuki can do in the race and we’ll all be hoping that he makes some good starts and be fighting with the leaders – as we know he can do. I am particularly happy because we’ve shown that our bike can be competitive and challenge the leaders and hopefully we’ll see Leon get some more good results tomorrow.”

2. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’37.422

3. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’37.516

4. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1’37.658

5. Sylvain Guintoli (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 1’37.901

6. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1’38.252

7. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1’38.280

8. Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’38.425

9. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’38.072

10. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’38.095

11. Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1’38.318

12. Claudio Corti (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’38.516

13. Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’38.548

14. Maxime Berger (Red Devils Roma) Ducati 1098R 1’38.727

15. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’38.807

16. Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 1’39.354

17. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1’39.430

18. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1’39.750

19. John Hopkins (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’40.538

20. Alexander Lundh (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’40.882

21. Norino Brignola (Grillini Progea Superbike Team) BMW S1000 RR 1’42.461