WSBK Report
Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) was in the joyful position of leading a race in SBK for the first time last weekend, on the road at least, before he asked just too much of his machine’s current set-up and crashed.
But it was difficult not to see his general performance, in only his sixth ever SBK championship round of course, as anything but a step forward for his confidence.
Camier, a British Supersport and Superbike Champion (in 2005 and 2009 respectively) has impressed many insiders in SBK, even in this stellar year of top riders wherever you look, with his sheer commitment. Even his two no-scores from the weekend at Valencia have done nothing but make him more determined to succeed.
He led the second part of the second race for nine laps, but eventually crashed after confusion at not being able to see his pit board properly led him to lose concentration for a split second.
But, even the fact that his current machine set-up is not perfect for him quite yet is something Camier sees as a positive. Why? If he can lead for so long right now, what can be possible with an even better overall package? He stated after the races last Sunday.
Leon Camier says: "I could not see my pit board in race two but I could hear a bike behind me. I was stressing because I needed to see my pit board to judge what was going on. I was having a lot of ‘moments’ out there to keep ahead, keep the pace strong. When you are pushing but not 100% flowing it can have an adverse effect. I was happy with the way everything was going, but there are still a few things to be improved on."
