Leon Camier recorded the fourth British Superbike victory of his career in round 1 of the British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch today. His victory in race two followed a 4th place in race one and puts him second in the Championship standings. Teammate James Ellison finished 5th in race one and 7th in race two.
James and Leon maintained their grid positions at the start of race one but each lost a place just before an incident on the 2nd lap saw the safety car being deployed. After 4 laps behind the safety car, Leon pushed hard to move up to 3rd but dropped down to 10th after going wide on lap 16. Both James and Leon continued to work their way through the field and by lap 26 Leon was right behind his teammate. Following a close battle, Leon overtook James at the end of lap 28 to finish 4th with James crossing the line in 5th.
After another good start in race two, Leon broke away with the leading pack early on. A succession of impressive passes saw Leon take the lead on lap 19, eventually crossing the line to take victory by over 2 seconds. James meanwhile enjoyed a three-way battle for 7th for most of the second race which he eventually won on the very last lap.
Delighted with his race two win Leon commented, "After the first race I knew I had the pace to be on the podium, but to win is amazing. In the first race I made a few mistakes which really cost me but the performance of the YZF R1 was faultless. I'm looking forward to Oulton Park to get some more time on the bike and continue its development and I don't see why we can't be competitive there too. I must say a massive thank you to everyone at Airwaves Yamaha, GSE Group and Jewson for making this win today possible."
Reflecting on the weekend James said, "A top five finish was my aim at the start of the weekend, so to achieve that in race one was great. I was really aiming for a podium in race two but after being held up in traffic, to come away with some solid points was a good result. I'm really happy for Leon and the whole Airwaves Yamaha team to get such a fantastic victory today. I'll be working hard when we get to the next round at Oulton Park to make sure the next win is mine".
Colin Wright added "What a day! Leon was sensational in race 2 and James did a superb job in both races. Considering we only started the Airwaves Yamaha's on Wednesday and the riders put their leg over them on Thursday, to complete the weekend with four point scoring positions is truly outstanding. I hope to have the opportunity to thank many people over this season but for now a big thank you to the Yamaha WSB team and Davide Gentile (race engineer, Yamaha WSB Team). These guys have pulled out all the stops to provide us with a fantastic motorcycle, massive amounts of experience and data".
Race One Results:
1. Sylvain Guintoli Worx Crescent Suzuki
2. Glen Richards HM Plant Honda
3. Stuart Easton Hydrex Honda
4. Leon Camier Airwaves Yamaha
5. James Ellison Airwaves Yamaha
Race Two Results:
1. Leon Camier Airwaves Yamaha
2. Sylvain Guintoli Worx Crescent Suzuki
3. Steve Plater HM Plant Honda
4. Stuart Easton Hydrex Honda
5. Glen Richards HM Plant Honda
6. Karl Harris Hydrex Honda
7. James Ellison Airwaves Yamaha
Championship Standings:
1. Sylvain Guintoli Worx Crescent Suzuki 45
2. Leon Camier Airwaves Yamaha 38
3. Glen Richards HM Plant Honda 31
4. Stuart Easton Hydrex Honda 29
5. James Ellison Airwaves Yamaha 20
all pictures by Eric O'Brien
www.airwaves-yamaha.co.uk
Due to the 45 sec lap and dodgy weather, the racing was fairly frenetic at Brands on Easter Monday. Despite vowing to never try to predict what will happen in racing - I predict the BSB title will be between the days two winners, Camier and Guintoli. Glen Richards could well be a threat, but my dark horse and rider of the day is Stuart Easton who led both races and looks the finished article. Give him a HM Plant Fireblade and I think he would be a serious contender. Heres what happened according to Airwaves Yamaha...
AIRWAVES YAMAHA SENSATIONAL WIN ON DEBUT WEEKEND