Camier edges closer to title
Added on Sunday, September 13th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Camier edges closer to title
Leon Camier strengthened his title charge, returning to his winning ways in race two at North Yorkshire’s Croft circuit, this afternoon.
After a difficult opening race at the Northern venue, Camier fought back to prove he is focused on the job at hand, and determined to secure the 2009 BSB title.
As in race one, Easton got the jump on his front row rivals, immediately launching his Hydrex Honda into the lead of the race. Josh Brookes followed him, slotting into second, whilst Simon Andrews managed to sneak into third, leaving Camier to occupy fourth place.
As the riders twisted and turned around the opening lap, Andrews soon found himself under pressure from Camier’s Airwaves Yamaha, who was closing in on the MSS Colchester Kawasaki. Before long, Camier was through into third and chasing down Brookes in second.
Up at the front, Brookes was eager to make ground on his first race third place, and soon began piling on the pressure to the rear of Easton’s Honda. While Brookes was concentrating forward, Camier swiftly crept up behind him; by the fourth lap, Camier managed to muscle his way through into second, at the expense of Brookes, as the field rounded Tower bend - the scene of his first race drama.
With Camier on the hunt, it seemed only a matter of time before he would be challenging Easton for the lead. Two laps down the road the opportune moment presented itself, when Camier obviously found his groove at Tower, diving past Easton and into the lead. From here the leading duo entered a rhythm, in which they remained until the end of the twenty laps.
Whilst Camier was heading up the field, his Airwaves Yamaha teammate, James Ellison, had suffered a tough start, which dropped him down the order. Now eager to make back lost ground, he was fighting his way through the pack, making light work of his rivals to finish fourth as the chequered flag swept through the air.
With twenty laps completed, Camier crossed the line to take another win of the season, adding to his already impressive tally. Easton secured second, making him the top scorer this weekend, taking a total forty-five points, while Brookes completed another podium finish.
Tommy Hill had a strong showing in this second race, seemingly now coming to terms with his new Hydrex Honda machine. He enjoyed a race long battle with the likes of Ellison, Ian lowry and Gary Mason to take a well respected sixth.
Heading into the final two rounds, and four races, it is now only possible for one of the Airwaves Yamaha duo to take the 2009 BSB title, making them the 2009 champions - which they sported on t-shirts during their podium celebrations.
Commenting on his second race success, Camier said: “The first race today was my mistake again, I just got a little bit excited trying to get to the front early, and it’s really hard to pass around here, and when the wind changed direction to match a full tank of fuel and a big slip-stream from Simon Andrews, I was doing 16km more than I’d been doing before going into that corner; trying to brake at the same place wasn’t really going to work, so 100% my mistake. Managed to get a few good points, which was OK. The second race I was 100% careful at the beginning, and just tried to pace myself and make sure when I made a pass it stuck. A massive thanks to Airwaves Yamaha. To get the Constructors Championship and for the team it’s absolutely awesome, I’ve just got to try and wrap it up for myself at the next one.”
Second place Easton commented: “The set-up of the bike now is whatever times we can do, we can do a few tenths off at the end of the race if we have to really, so it is good but Leon - what can you say; he had a couple of really good laps after he past me, so every credit, but I’m pleased with my weekend. We’ve worked hard all weekend with the bike and set-up and we’ve tried so many things. To get a first place in the first race and a second, thanks to my team and everyone.”
Commenting on another third place, Brookes said: “I’m a lot happier with that race, we still obviously want to try and get a win. I can see Leon in the distance riding around, it’s a bit disheartening. We’ve just got to keep working away, it’s not impossible. I felt a lot better with the bike that time, just not enough to beat and better third. I’m happy with the comeback though, and to get two podiums again is great for the team, great for me, and just building up to better things in the future. All going well we should have a stronger event at Silverstone than we’ve had here, but I’m still happy to be on the podium.”
Seizing the Mirror.co.uk Cup title this weekend, Gary Mason said: “Obviously I’m ecstatic. They’ve [the team] worked so hard. We managed to get some pennies together and put some new pads in for that race, and it showed in my lap times as well, because I know I was probably annoying a lot of the factory boys a lot and holding them off and probably holding them up a little bit. I’m just over the moon for the team.”
