Fixi Suzuki's Leon Camier has identifed a change in gearing could net him a further three-tenths of a second every lap over a race distance which would put him among the front-runners come Sunday's World Superbike double-header at Imola.

The former British Superbike Champion was less than half a second off the pace in first qualifying today and will endeavour to utilise the good base setting he has achieved to make up the missing pace before Superpole tomorrow afternoon in which he will be running an upgraded Yoshimura engine, according to team boss Jack Valentine.

"Today was not so bad and I'm pretty happy. I would've been further up the standings today but got held up by slower riders at the end of the session. The track has good grip and it's consistent, so today we were able to just go out, put in the laps; and try some ideas," said Camier.

"After the long gap since Phillip Island, I felt a bit stiff on the bike at first, but soon started to get a good feeling with the Suzuki again. We have a good base set-up and the only thing we need to work on is the gearing and the gearbox. If we can get that sorted out, I can consistently go about three-tenths-of-a second quicker - I want to be in the fight with the front guys here in Imola."