Camier flies flag as sole British podium winner
Leon Camier had the honour of finishing as the top British rider at Donington Park after scoring a confident podium finish in the second World Superbike race.
Though still not fully fit following his bout of glandular fever, strong starts from seventh in both races saw Camier fighting for podiums from the off.
While tyre issues would see him fade from third to eighth during the latter stages of race one, a revised set-up gave him a more consistent package for race two and he was able to break away with Leon Haslam and Marco Melandri in the fight for second, third and fourth.
With Haslam falling by the wayside, Camier trailed Melandri in the hope of pouncing when the Yamaha rider's tyres began to fade. However, a mistake with his pit board prompted Camier to pounce earlier than planned and while he did assume second on lap 16, Melandri would find his form to snatch the position back with four laps remaining.
"I got away well [in race one] and was feeling really comfortable but the tyres were shredded by the end of it, and the cold weather just made the problem worse he said. So we made some small changes to the setup of the bike before race two and the tyres were consistently good throughout.
"I had quite a good start in the second race and managed to get up to third going around the outside at Redgate. My plan was to stay with the front two and see how the bike reacted. Once I caught Melandri I felt really comfortable and I could see he was making a few mistakes so I decided to sit there and wait for his tyres to go off before trying to make a pass.
"Suddenly my pit board said I had plus zero to the group behind me so I thought I needed to try and make a pass on him straight away so I didn't get caught up with the people behind me. But it turns out there wasn't anyone behind me and Melandri was able to get back into a rhythm and get back past me.
"I was confident I could have had another go at him but I had a few problems with my brakes at the end, meaning I couldn't get into the corners as well as I would want and there was nothing more I could do."
Despite this, Camier was thrilled to finish as the only British - and Aprilia - rider on the Superbike podium this weekend, a result made all the more special by his recent health woes.
"After the race weekend at Phillip Island and the way the lead up to this weekend has gone, we really didn't know how my body would react to race conditions. So obviously I am really happy to have finished on the podium, especially in front of all the British fans that have been stuck out in the cold this weekend."
Camier's fourth career WSBK podium moves him to seventh in the overall standings after the opening two rounds with the scene of his first career rostrum coming up at Assen next.
