VOL. 51 ISSUE 32 AUGUST 12, 2014 P31
CAMIER STEPS IN
N
icky Hayden's place in the
Aspar Honda team was tak-
en by former 125cc Grand Prix
and World Superbike rider Leon
Camier – and the currently dis-
placed Brit made an instant im-
pression as he adapted to an all-
new motorcycle at a track he had
never seen before.
Despite the difficulties of car-
bon brakes and Bridgestone tires
(very different from the Pirellis
used in World Superbike), the
28-year-old quickly went from
tentative to tasty, out-qualifying his
seasoned Drive M7 Aspar Honda
teammate Hiroshi Aoyama, a for-
mer 250cc World Champion.
In the race, he was running in
the points before being sidelined
by a failed electronic sensor.
"You can tell that this is an ex-
perienced team because they
are able to help me go faster
every time I go out, and make
the bike more and more com-
fortable for me to ride," he said
after qualifying, although sound-
ing a note of caution. "Thanks to
the hard work of the mechanics,
I am adapting quite quickly but I
still have a lot to learn, such as
the limits of the tires and the sus-
pension. Sometimes when you
start out from scratch it is easy
to make quick progress, but you
get to a certain point and things
slow down."
Camier had been scheduled
to race an Aprilia for the Ioda
team alongside Danilo Petrucci,
but the deal went sour before
the season. He was on stand-
by to take over Hayden's bike
in Catalunya. Now he will race
also at Brno, and possibly also
his home GP at Silverstone two
weeks later.
Michael Scott
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
Leon Camier did an admirable job
of filling in for the injured Nicky
Hayden at Indy.
BSB: KIYONARI 2,
BROOKES 1
R
yuichi Kiyonari continued his rise in
the 2014 British Superbike Cham-
pionship titles this past weekend as he
headed off the determined challenges
of Josh Brookes to win the opening two
Ryuichi Kiyonari (23) battles with Shane
Byrne at Oulton Park. Kiyonari won two of
the three races in the weekend's British
Superbike Championship.
continued on next page
