Camier out of Suzuka 8 Hours with vertebra fracture

Leon Camier will miss the Suzuka 8 Hours after suffering a vertebra fracture during testing for the iconic endurance event with the factory Red Bull Honda with Japan Post squad.

At the pre-event test the factory Honda World Superbike rider suffered an off and after being checked over in hospital it was confirmed he had sustained a fracture to his C5 vertebra.

After considering the recovery timeframe required, with the Suzuka 8 Hours race taking place at the end of the month, Camier has been forced to sit out the event for the factory Honda squad.

Honda is expected to name a replacement rider in the coming days to teammate Takumi Takahashi and Takaaki Nakagami to form the HRC-run Red Bull Honda with Japan Post team.

Following a run of near-misses at victory at the Suzuka 8 Hours, Honda has stepped up its efforts this year with the HRC-run squad competing with the Japanese manufacturer’s CBR1000RRW bike, a race-specification version based on the CBR1000RR SP2 which Camier competes with in World Superbikes.

Camier will now focus on returning to full fitness over the summer break before World Superbike action resumes at Portimao on September 14-16. The British rider has missed two rounds this year due to injury when he sustained broken ribs after being accidently hit by MV Agusta’s Jordi Torres in a crash during race one at Aragon.

Yamaha ended Honda’s five consecutive wins stretch in 2015 while its factory team taking victory for the past three straight years at Suzuka. Honda still retains the all-time most wins at the event with 27 with nearest rivals Yamaha on seven wins.

The 41^st Suzuka 8 Hours takes place on July 27-29.