Airwaves issues statement on Camier DSQ

Airwaves Yamaha has released a detailed statement following the disqualification of BSB title leader Leon Camier from race two at Cadwell Park on Monday.

Camier looked set for a comfortable double victory until blue smoke began emitting from his R1. Black and orange flags were then displayed for Camier on the final lap, but the Englishman remained on track and completed the race.

Race Direction then disqualified Camier from the results for failing to stop immediately.

The statement released by the team, which identifies the cause of the smoke and confirms that Camier thought he could finish the final lap, read as follows:

'On the 18th and final lap, race leader Leon was shown the black and orange flag as smoke was seen to come from his bike. Mistakenly believing he had until the end of the lap to come in to the pits, Leon continued on to take the chequered flag. The Championship leader was disqualified for the infringement and his teammate James Ellison, who was in 2nd, awarded the win.

'After a thorough inspection, it has since been discovered that the oil cooler of Leon's bike had rubbed on the exhaust, causing smoke. An incident not experienced by the Airwaves Yamaha team before.

'On the Race Two incident, Team Manager Colin Wright said, "I'd like to apologise to Leon for the error we made at Cadwell Park on Monday. We have found that the oil cooler had made contact with the exhaust, causing a small oil leak, and this was responsible for the smoke that was visible for all to see. Had this error not occurred, Leon would now be in a position where he would only need 4.5 points in the remaining rounds to secure the championship for Airwaves Yamaha. I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank Leon for immediately showing dignity and professionalism when he learned of his disqualification from the results.

'"There has been comment made that a lack of competition has been behind Leon's success this year. But comparing his times from Race One to those of 2008 winner Leon Haslam, we can see that he still would have won by 3.5 seconds. He's had an outstanding season so far."

'On the decision to exclude Leon from the race, Colin said, "The marshals and Race Director absolutely made the right call regarding the black and orange flag, as this was the only way that Leon would be made aware of a problem. As Leon did not leave the circuit immediately he was disqualified from the results. Unfortunately for us, the Race Director had to take this action exactly as the rules state. Had the oil leak been worse, Leon could have crashed and would almost certainly have caused others to fall on the oil."

'Praising the performance of the team and the YZF-R1, Colin continued, "GSE Racing has enjoyed much success over the years and we are extremely proud of our exemplary race finish record. I honestly cannot remember the last time we experienced a non-finish due to mechanical problems. This year has so far been tremendous, James and Leon are the only two riders in the championship to have finished in every race, and we will be working hard to continue this through to the last round."'