Leon Camier produced more solid performances in the eni FIM Superbike World Championship at Monza this weekend.
In race one he came home in ninth place and in race two he brought his bike across the line in seventh place in race two to round off another good weekend for the Ashford born racer.
Camier is now tenth in the driver standings with 46 points with his teammate Jules Cluzel a place further back on 41.
Cluzel by contrast had a tough weekend in Italy as a ride through penalty left him down in 17th place in race one and in race two he crashed on the second lap, but luckily for him he was uninjured and will be fit to ride at Donington Park over the second May bank holiday weekend.
In race one the race win was up in the air on the last lap with Tom Sykes, Eugene Laverty and Marco Melandri, it was the former who took the win with Sykes in second and Laverty in third.
In the second race of the day it was Laverty who came over the line in first with Melandri second and Sykes in third.
Talking after the race Team Manager Paul Denning said: “”First and foremost the whole team is very relieved that Jules is largely uninjured after what looked like a very nasty accident in the second race. Race-day just didn’t pan out in the way we were hoping for with Jules. He had a great pace in race one before running on at the chicane, and then the ride-through destroyed any opportunity to see what he could have done.
“After settling in calmly on lap one of the second race, the crash put an end to his day. I have to be honest and say we are struggling between us – the team and Jules – to fully understand the best way to get him comfortable on the GSX-R for all conditions and circuits. There is still some significant work to do to find the right base, but that said, he’s an inspiring racer and we’re sure he’ll bounce back strongly at Donington.
“For Monza I think Leon had a pretty good day! We struggled with a braking problem in the first race, but in race two the bike was a lot closer to the others. In the end we only got beaten by a factory Kawasaki, a factory BMW and the Aprilias, which on a track like this is no shame. The engine performance is night-and-day better than 2012, thanks for which I have to give to our guys at Crescent and our partners at Yoshimura Japan, who are working so hard for us.
“Apart from the last four or five laps – where we ran out of grip – Leon’s pace was on a par with the front group. We are coming in to some tracks that will suit the bike, such as Donington and Portimao. Leon’s really done well there before and we’re positive of further progress towards the podium.”
After returning from injury Camier has been getting stronger and stronger in the races and it looks as though he is almost back to his brilliant best.
Giving his reaction after the race to his 9th and 7th place finishes, Camier said: “I had a pretty good start in the second race and got past Jules on the first lap. I then tried to get in a rhythm and not lose the tow. It took me a lap or two to get the feel and confidence in the brakes because we’d made a change to them for the second race. They felt ok, not as good in performance, but more consistent, so at least I could race with them.
“The set-up of the bike also worked better and let me do a bit more in the race, but I think the results today are what we can expect at this track. Yoshimura and the Crescent team have done a great job and the engine performance is in a different world to last year, but I don’t think we could have done much more here.”
Leon will be back on track over the second May bank holiday weekend and it is his home race at Donington Park.