Camier at the double takes series lead ViSK British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli Round two – Holiday Monday 4 May Oulton Park Leon Camier overhauled Sylvain Guintoli in the early season chase for the ViSK British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli as he took his first winning double in the top flight in a dramatic second round at Oulton Park. Riding the Airwaves Yamaha, Camier, who had won last time out at Brands Hatch, maintained his rich vein of form by first taking his maiden pole start, and then dominating the two races at the Cheshire circuit, finishing ahead of Hydrex Honda rider Karl Harris in each, with Guintoli taking a pair of thirds aboard the Worx Crescent Suzuki. The changeable conditions caused problems, with light rain at times, during the day, but the opening Superbike race began in the dry with Stuart Easton setting the pace from Harris and Camier, though the action was stopped on the second lap to speed aid to John Laverty who had crashed heavily, though fortunately without serious injury, at Hilltop. Camier had an anxious moment ahead of the re-start, pulling off the grid momentarily to check a fluid leak, which turned out to be coolant from an overheating engine he was able to continue without problem and again had to scrap with Easton and Harris, taking the lead on the seventh lap. Harris, chasing maiden glory in the series chased hard, but had to settle for second best as Camier took the victory by a little over a second, reflecting: “The race was really hard at the begnning but then I settled into something of a rhythm and was able to pick ’em off in front of me.” Guintoli, racing the challenging circuit for the first time, rode strongly to take third ahead of Easton with James Ellison taking fifth ahead of Glen Richards. Easton made a great start to the second race, but Harris was equal to that, taking over out front, but not for long before Camier was piling on the pressure and snatching the lead at Lodge on the third lap and then romping into the distance to take the victory by some seven seconds. “We really didn’t expect to win one race, let alone two, but the team pulled it out of the bag for me,” said Camier who then warned his rivals to expect more of the same, starting with the next round at Donington Park: “We should have our new engines for them and they will give us an extra 15-20bhp which will help us particularly in the slower corners.” Harris took second ahead of Guintoli who had overcome a poor start to carve through the pack from tenth on the opening lap to take third ahead of Ellison, Richards and Ian Lowry aboard the Relentless Suzuki. Gary Mason, tenth and sixth overall, celebrated his 30th birthday with a winning double in the Mirror.co.uk Cup with Martin Jessopp twice second ahead of Pete Hickman and Tom Tunstall. ViSK British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli Round 2 Race 1 18 laps 1 L Camier Airwaves Yamaha 29m 14.802s av.sp. 99.40mph 2 K Harris Hydrex Honda +1.062s 3 S Guintoli (FR) Worx Suzuki +5.378s 4 S Easton Hydrex Honda +5.485s 5 J Ellison Airwaves Yamaha +14.763s 6 G Richards (AUS) HM Plant Honda +15.145s 7 I Lowry Relentless Suzuki +19.939s 8 J O’Halloran (AUS) SMT Honda +20.261s 9 G Mason Quay Garage Honda +25.040s 10 J Brookes (AUS) HM Plant Honda +25.494s Race 2 18 laps 1 L Camier Airwaves Yamaha 29m 07.389s av.sp. 99.83mph 2 K Harris Hydrex Honda +7.326s 3 S Guintoli (FR) Worx Suzuki +11.792s 4 J Ellison Airwaves Yamaha +11.908s 5 G Richards (AUS) HM Plant Honda +12.295s 6 I Lowry Relentless Suzuki +15.447s 7 G Mason Quay Garage Honda +17.702s 8 S Andrews MSS Colchester Kawasaki +19.420s 9 C Walker Motorpoint Henderson Yamaha +19.535s 10 J O’Halloran SMT Honda +25.749s All riders GB except where stated Championship standings 1 L Camier 88 2 S Guintoli 77 3 G Richards 52 4 K Harris 50 5 J Ellison 44 6 S Easton 42 7 G Mason 33 8 J O’Halloran 26 9= C Walker 22 9=S Andrews 22 9=I Lowry Next round Donington Park 23-24-25 May More, from a press release issued by GSE Racing/Airwaves Yamaha: DOUBLE TOP FOR AIRWAVES YAMAHA Airwaves Yamaha rider Leon Camier leaves Oulton Park today leading the British Superbike Championship by 11 points after securing a career-first double victory. Team mate James Ellison continued his good start to the season with a 5th and 4th. In a restarted first race, starting from pole position Leon lost a few places off the line. After quickly fighting his way through to 3rd by the end of the opening lap, Leon continued to chase down the leading two riders, eventually taking the lead on lap 6. Rain then started to fall 3 laps from the end, but a string of consistent fast laps saw Leon claim victory by over a second. James enjoyed a close battle for 5th for the majority of race one. He finally overtook the Honda of Glen Richards on the very last lap to secure 11 valuable championship points. Both riders once again struggled off the grid in race two, with Leon going down to 4th and James 7th. As in race one, Leon quickly made his way through the field, going into the lead on lap 3 of 18. James meanwhile had successfully worked his way up to 3rd but was to lose out on his first podium for Airwaves Yamaha on the penultimate lap. Securing Yamaha’s first double BSB win in 11 years, Leon reflected on the weekend saying, “We really didn’t expect a double win today, it feels awesome. We knew the Airwaves Yamaha would struggle being down on top speed, but it handled so well. The guys at GSE Racing have done such an amazing job this weekend. It hasn’t been easy for them so I must say a massive thank you and hope the result pays them back for all their hard work.” After the second race, James commented, “I struggled in race one, it was really difficult to get the drive I needed to make some passes. In between races we changed our gearing to the same as Leon and it made a huge difference. I’m disappointed to have missed out on a podium but I feel positive about the races ahead and I can’t wait to get to Donington Park!” Race One Results: 1. Leon Camier – Airwaves Yamaha 2. Karl Harris – Hydrex Honda 3. Sylvain Guintoli – Worx Crescent Suzuki 4. Stuart Easton – Hydrex Honda 5. James Ellison – Airwaves Yamaha Race Two Results: 1. Leon Camier – Airwaves Yamaha 2. Karl Harris – Hydrex Honda 3. Sylvain Guintoli – Worx Crescent Suzuki 4. James Ellison – Airwaves Yamaha Championship Positions: 1. Leon Camier – Airwaves Yamaha – 88 points 2. Sylvain Guintoli – Worx Crescent Suzuki – 77 points 3. Glen Richards – HM Plant Honda – 52 points 4. Karl Harris – Hydrex Honda – 50 points 5. James Ellison – Airwaves Yamaha – 44 points