FIXI Crescent Suzuki's Leon Camier raced to the team's maiden WSB podium during race two of this afternoon's 12th round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship event from Nurburgring in Germany.
Camier didn't get a good start from seventh on the grid in the second race and was in 12th position at the end of the first lap, but the Englishman kept his head and clinically and methodically picked his way through the field to move up into a podium position by lap 13. Camier then made a pass on the Aprilia of Eugene Laverty to take second place from the Irishman, a position that Camier held for the next four laps. Laverty made his way past the FIXI Crescent Suzuki rider, after Camier nearly high-sided at the final chicane and lost ground, but the Suzuki star never gave up and challenged for second place all the way to the line in the final two laps. He finished just 0.200 seconds from P2, but was delighted to have given the team its first podium of the season, which is an indication of the hard work the whole crew have put in this year.
Camier didn't get a good start from seventh on the grid in the second race and was in 12th position at the end of the first lap, but the Englishman kept his head and clinically and methodically picked his way through the field to move up into a podium position by lap 13. Camier then made a pass on the Aprilia of Eugene Laverty to take second place from the Irishman, a position that Camier held for the next four laps. Laverty made his way past the FIXI Crescent Suzuki rider, after Camier nearly high-sided at the final chicane and lost ground, but the Suzuki star never gave up and challenged for second place all the way to the line in the final two laps. He finished just 0.200 seconds from P2, but was delighted to have given the team its first podium of the season, which is an indication of the hard work the whole crew have put in this year.
Camier's first race was arguably better than his second, after a technical problem forced him to the pits before the start of the race and meant he had to begin the 20-lap event from 22nd and last on the grid. He got a good start - making up six places on lap one - before continuing to pick off riders one-by-one, while producing race-leading lap-times for the remainder of the race. Camier finally powered his FIXI Crescent Suzuki GSX-R over the line in fifth, still closing in strongly on fourth place. Camier's two results today were his best haul from a weekend's work in Suzuki colours and he will now head to the final two rounds of the season with a renewed vigour.
John Hopkins was somewhat overshadowed by Camier today, but his performances deserve merit after he rode his Yoshimura-powered Suzuki GSX-R to 12th and 13th in the two races. Hopkins was returning to a circuit that held some painful memories for him after he crashed and was run over there - and knocked unconscious - on his first and only previous visit. He came to terms with the demanding and technically difficult 5,137m track over the weekend and battled hard to get his machine into points scoring positions in both races.
Today's two races were equally both exciting, not just from a FIXI Crescent Suzuki point of view, but for the fans as well. Max Biaggi took victory - his first-ever at Nurburgring - in race one and regained his championship lead, despite crashing out and remounting in the second race. British rider Chaz Davies was triumphant in the race two to take his premier victory in a World Superbike race in his first season in the class.
FIXI Crescent Suzuki will now head for the Algarve region of Portugal for the penultimate event of 2012, as the Superbike World Championship takes to the track at Portimao for round 13 on Sunday 23rd September.
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