Camier delight at Brands Hat-trick
Added on Monday, August 10th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Camier delight at Brands Hat-trick
Airwaves Yamaha rider Leon Camier wrote his name in the record books at Brands Hatch to become the first rider in BSB history to record three victories in one round, beating Niall MacKenzie’s record of 13 race victories in a season in the process.
The championship leader recorded a sensational hat-trick of victories in the Brands Big Bash at the weekend, extending his lead at the top of the rider’s standings to 113.5 points and become the first ever rider to record race 14 wins in a season.
With four rounds and nine races remaining, Camier’s record of 14 wins from 17 races means that the BSB title is all but his and the Ashford rider was delighted to have set a new record on his home circuit.
“To win the first ever triple and beat Niall Mackenzie’s record for race wins at my home round is really special,” said Camier. “Both races today were difficult.”
“I had possibly my best ever start in Race Two. We don’t have launch control on the Airwaves Yamaha, but I managed to get away at the front anyway. Then in the third race, I had my usual bad start and fell right back. I knew I had to get up to the front quickly else there’d be too much of a gap to make up. Once I was in the lead, I just had to get my head down and pull away.
“The crowd at Brands Hatch has been amazing, so thank you to everyone for their support.”
The third victory of the day was also an emotional result for Airwaves Yamaha team boss Colin Wright, who recorded his 100th race victory with GSE Racing.
“It is fantastic for the whole team and yes I was a bit emotional when it got to those final two laps,” an emotional Wright told the BSB website. “If I am honest at mid-race distance I wasn’t sure it was going to happen, but I said to Darrell (Healey) that if Leon could get the gap to Parkes down to 1.7 seconds he could win it. Sure enough Leon did just that but you never know what could happen. That time can be made up around a circuit like this and when he passed we knew this could be it. It was an amazing feeling and I am so pleased for the whole team.
“This has to be one of the most memorable, but there were wins with Neil Hodgson and earlier on with John Reynolds that will be ones I will never forget. All the riders I have worked with other the years have been great and I have had a good relationship with all of them. We certainly won’t be stopping here either, there is still more to come.”
