Leon Camier


Leon Stuart Camier is an English motorcycle racer. After difficult 2018 and 2019 seasons with Honda satellite team Moriwaki Althea and suffering from injuries, for 2020 he is contracted to ride for Barni Ducati in WSBK.
In late 2017, he signed to compete in the 2018 Superbike World Championship series aboard a Honda Fireblade SP2 for Ten Kate Racing as teammate to Jake Gagne. Camier continued with Honda into 2019, for the first time a full factory-backed team, with teammate Ryuichi Kiyonari.
Previously he competed since 2015 for MV Agusta Reparto Corse in the Superbike World Championship, aboard an MV Agusta F4.
He was the 2005 British Supersport and 2009 British Superbike Champion. 2010 was his first full season in the World Superbike series.

Early life

Camier was born in Ashford, Kent, England. His distant paternal ancestors were French Huguenots, although several generations of the family lived in Cork, Ireland. His appreciation of the music of Jack Johnson has been mentioned on ITV's racing coverage. He also enjoys System of a Down and Linkin Park. At 6'2", he is tall for his profession which has its disadvantages. According to ITV's coverage, he has a habit of walking around circuits the evening before races with the aim of spotting extra details about the track. This is a habit picked up from his Grasstrack days where this behaviour is usual. His nickname is Shafter. As well as racing, Camier also enjoyed playing football as a youngster for an Ashford-based club called Bliby. Camier resides in Andorra.

Career

Early career

After beginning Grasstrack racing aged 6 and winning five British championships, Camier became British Junior 80 cc Road Racing champion in 1998. He won the British 125 cc title in 2001 and the British Supersport crown in 2005. This period built a working relationship with Honda which included contesting the 2005 Suzuka 8 Hours race in 2005 at the age of 18.

British Superbike Championship (2007–2009)

2007 was his first season in the British Superbike Championship on a Bike Animal Honda. He led the first corners of his very first race and was on the podium in the first three races. A crash in race 6 at Silverstone and two eighth places at Oulton Park damaged his momentum however. At Snetterton, a bike failure in qualifying saw him start 29th but he moved up to 6th in both races amidst Honda dominance. His season ended with a huge crash at Cadwell Park causing a broken left femur and right pelvis.
For 2008 he joined the GSE Racing Airwaves Ducati team alongside former champion Shane 'Shaky' Byrne. He finished fifth overall, taking his first three wins.
For 2009 GSE switched to Yamahas and James Ellison joined as him teammate. Camier quickly dominated the series, winning even more races than Byrne had in 2008. He clinched the title with four races to go fittingly by overtaking closest rival Ellison on the penultimate lap of race 1 at Silverstone. Immediately on returning to the pits he was greeted by Niall Mackenzie decked out in his original 1998 Rob Mac Cadbury's Boost leathers. Camier ultimately won a record-breaking 18 races despite only leading out of the first corner twice. His success led to the organisers of the series to adopt the "Showdown Rule" for 2010. This revised the points system to the split-season format popularly used by saloon-car series in the United States.

World Superbike Championship (2009–present)

After winning the title, Camier was invited to join the Aprilia squad in the Superbike World Championship for the final two races of the season, replacing the injured Shinya Nakano. His first meeting at Magny-Cours saw him qualify 16th improving to set the fourth fastest warm-up time. Unfortunately, two technical problems meant he took no points. However, in the last meeting of the season at Portimao, Camier finished 6th and 7th.
Camier raced full-time with Aprilia in World Superbike in 2010. He finished second to teammate Max Biaggi in race two at Miller Motorsport Park, giving Aprilia their first 1–2 in the series. At his home round at Silverstone, Camier started 16th but fought back to finish sixth and third in the two races.

Career statistics

All-time statistics

British Supersport Championship

Races by year

YearClassBikeSIL
BHI
SNE
OUL
MON
SNE
BHGP
KNO
MAL
CRO
CAD
OUL
DON
PosPtsRef
2004BSSHonda5RetRet682Ret32Ret4157th99

YearClassBikeBHI
DON
THR
OUL
MON
MAL
SNE
KNO
OUL
CRO
CAD
SIL
BHGP
PosPtsRef
2006BSSHonda5Ret4Ret26Ret334Ret44th112

British Superbike Championship

Races by year

Supersport World Championship

Races by year

YearBike123456789101112PosPts
2006HondaQATAUSSPAITAEURSMRCZEGBR
10
NEDGERITAFRA32nd6

Superbike World Championship

Races by year

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

Races by year

YearClassBike123456789101112131415161718PosPts
2002125ccItaljetJPNRSASPAFRAITACAT
24
NED
28
GBR
24
GERCZEPORBRAPACMALAUSVALNC0
2003125ccHondaJPN
26
RSA
Ret
SPA
30
FRA
24
ITA
30
CAT
27
NED
Ret
GBR
Ret
GER
23
CZEPORBRAPACMALAUSVALNC0
2014MotoGPHondaQATAMEARGSPAFRAITACATNEDGERIND
Ret
CZE
15
GBR
16
RSM
16
ARAJPNAUSMALVAL27th1