Camier and Coutts in the thick of the action.

Leon Camier and Daniel Coutts took the opportunity to make up for their disappointment from the previous championship round at Brands Hatch by being in the thick of the action in an incident packed 125cc race at Donington Park on Sunday.

A great start from fourth place on the grid saw 2001 British 125 Champion Leon Camier heading the field on the first lap. From that point on the spectators were treated to a classic 125 squirmish with the leading pack trading positions on a regular basis.

The frantic pace claimed two of the front-runners with both Christian Elkin and Russell Hodgeson crashing out. Experience won out in the end when Steve Patrickson took the chequered flag from a hard charging Chris Martin with Camier in fourth position hot on the heels of Paul Robinson. Less than 1.5 seconds covered the first six finishers.

Unluckily for the 15-year-old, Camier was subsequently penalised for passing under a yellow flag, dropping him to fifth place. "It was just one of those things," said the Ashford schoolboy, "I was already committed to the move when I saw the flag and when you're racing on a 125 with the best in the country you simply can't afford to lose any momentum."

Team-mate and 2001 BMCRC Champion Daniel Coutts, riding in his first race at Donington, was also enjoying his day as he diced with vastly more experienced 125 regulars. The Horsham teenager kept his head and finished in eleventh place at the front of a pack that included Sam Owens, Eugene Laverty and David Mateer.

"After crashing out on the first lap at Brands it was great to get a race distance under my belt," said Coutts, "now I'm really looking forward to Oulton Park this coming weekend. My bike's exactly the same as Leon's so the sooner we're racing for the same position, the happier I'll be."

Team manager Clive Padgett was pleased with the performance of his two young charges but wasn't about to let them rest on their laurels. "It was a good result, especially for Dan who hasn't raced at Donington before. The 125 class is ultra competitive, but they're both Champions and the bikes are as fast as anything out there so from now on we should expect to be on the podium at every race."