Leon Camier is eager to put his disappointing weekend at Mallory Park behind him with an outlook to beating team-mate Shane Byrne on a regular basis by the end of the season.
Mallory Park, the sixth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, proved to be a tough round for the Airwaves Ducati youngster, with an eighth place finish a far cry from his first win at the previous
Snetterton round.
Nonetheless, Camier clings onto third in the overall standings and is now hoping a strong and consistent end to the season will help him reclaim second off Cal Crutchlow.
Even so, it is not Crutchlow that Camier necessarily has his eye on. Indeed, the 21-year-old is judging himself against his team-mate Byrne, whom he has beaten just once this season but has been getting increasingly close to.
With that in mind, Camier believes he has the potential to usurp Byrne in a straight fight, provided he can get through a weekend with none of the problems that stymied his efforts at
Mallory Park.
“Shakey is a great level to judge myself against,” he told
Crash.net. “He is on fire at the moment and he knows how the Ducati works, so I am trying to base my style on what he is doing. I am confident that if we have good weekend, with no problems, then I think I can push him for race wins.”
Camier's future is also likely to come into scrutiny in the next few weeks, particularly if rumours about Shane Byrne' s move to the World Championship come to fruition.
As such, Camier is confident that he has the capability to fill Byrne's large shoes should ‘Shakey' seek his fortune on the world stage. Then again, Camier admits he too is looking to onwards and upwards…
“Absolutely (I can lead this team next year),” he added. “Rumours are rumours, but I would love to stay with the Airwaves Ducati team. It all depends on what happens for next year, although I want to move up to the World Superbike Championship soon.
