Round nine 29/30/31 August Cadwell Park MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli Leon Camier dominated free practice at Cadwell Park ahead of the Holiday Monday ninth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli in which he intends to tighten his grip on the title. The Airwaves Yamaha rider ran consistently quickly in both sessions, putting in scorching lap of the Lincolnshire circuit in 1m 27.911secs, an average speed of 89.27mph, to be over a second faster than the rest. “The bike was just getting better and better,” said Camier, the winner of all but three of the 17 races so far, as he has amassed a lead of 113.5 points over his team-mate and nearest rival James Ellison. “There are still one or two things we have to work on and I expect to improve on my times in tomorrow’s sessions. “We have things going well with the bike and I am feeling good about these races now, and while I want the wins, at this stage of the season, if I can’t take them, then I will settle for strong points with the title in mind,” added Camier. Ian Lowry, riding the Relentless Suzuki, posed the nearest threat to Camier, putting in a time of 1m 29.023secs on his sixth lap of the second session to be a split second up on Hydrex Honda rider Stuart Easton who overcame a determined Simon Andrews aboard the MSS Colchester Kawasaki in a late scrap for third place on the leaderboard. John Laverty also put in a last minute dash, lapping in 1m 29.180secs to move his Buildbase Kawasaki fifth ahead of Karl Harris on the second Hydrex bike while Gary Mason, the comfortable leader in the chase for the Mirror.co.uk Cup, ran seventh overall on the Quay Garage Honda with a lap in 1m 29.299secs. Graeme Gowland, riding the Motorpoint Henderson Yamaha, all but matched his pace with Julien da Costa just ahead of the returning force of former MotoGP rider Sylvain Guintoli. The Frenchman, recovered from the serious leg injuries suffered in the third round, settled to the rigours of the circuit, reducing his lap times by three quarters of a second between sessions to a best of 1m 29.544secs. Guintoli, the winner of the first race of the campaign, and the only rider apart from Ellison to have beaten Camier was tenth fastest, marginally faster than the second Airwaves rider, Ellison, who had outpaced Chris Walker by just 0.002secs with Tristan Palmer well on the pace. The locally based HM Plant Honda team, double winners in the corresponding round of last year, struggled for pace. John McGuinness, their Isle of Man TT hero put in a lap of 1m 29.764secs, as he deputised for the injured Glen Richards, with Karl Muggeridge, in for the suspended Josh Brookes a further quarter of a second down in fifteenth place. Martin Jessopp, aboard the Riders Racing Honda, was second best to Mason in the Cup stakes, running almost a second down on him, but just ahead of Peter Hickman on the Ultimate Racing Yamaha and Kenny Gilbertson on the Jx Fuelcards Kawasaki. Top ten free practice times 1 L Camier Airwaves Yamaha 1m 27.911 2 I Lowry Relentless Suzuki 1m 29.023 3 S Easton Hydrex Honda 1m 29.100 4 S Andrews MSS Colchester Kawasaki 1m 29.137 5 J Laverty Buildbase Kawasaki 1m 29.180 6 K Harris Hydrex Honda 1m 29.213 7 G Mason Quay Garage Honda 1m 29.299 8 G Gowland Motorpoint Henderson Yamaha 1m 29.366 9 J da Costa MSS Colchester Kawasaki 1m 29.493 10 S Guintoli Worx Crescent Suzuki 1m 29.544 More, from a press release issued by Airwaves Yamaha: AIRWAVES YAMAHA QUICKEST AT CADWELL PARK Championship leader Leon Camier dominated the opening day of Round 9, finishing over a second quicker than the rest of the British Superbike field. His Airwaves Yamaha teammate James Ellison, finished 11th at the 2.18 mile circuit. After topping first Practice, Leon produced the fastest time of the day, 1:27.911 on lap 11 of the second session. Improving on his previous best by over eight tenths of a second, James finished the day 11th with a time of 1:29.624. On the day’s progress Leon commented, “The Airwaves Yamaha is getting better and better. I even got a good practice start for once! There are a few things that I would like to try before Qualifying because there’s still room for improvement. But of course, I’m really happy with where we are and I can’t wait to get back out there tomorrow.” After second Practice James said, “An interesting day for sure. I’ve been getting to grips with the circuit. It’s not a difficult track to learn, but it is difficult to learn how to go fast round here. We’ve made some changes to the Airwaves Yamaha throughout the two sessions. On the last run I used the same gearing as Leon which helped, but I’m still off the pace. There’s definitely a lot left in the bank in terms of pace, so I’m confident ahead of Qualifying tomorrow.” Qualifying for Round 9 of the British Superbike Championship commences tomorrow, Sunday 30th August at 1400.