Britain’s Leon Camier has likened his debut World Superbike ride on the BMW Italia Evo at Aragon to the first round of BSB at Brands Hatch in 2009 when he turned up having never sat the Airwaves Yamaha.
Camier, who is still hopeful of lining up with the Ioda MotoGP team later in the year, had one ridden the S1000R on a track day at Mugello before going to Spain but got to grips with the bike immediately and took pole, a win and a third in the new Evo class.
“Everyone was peaking as it all went pretty much to plan. It was a bit like the start of 2009 in BSB when we went to the first round with no testing,” said Camier, speaking to bikesportnews.com.
“We have got some stuff to change on the bike as I made some mistakes with the gearbox. I was difficult coming down the ‘box and I ran on couple of times but for a first run, it was good. It is quick for a stock bike and I think that I could run with the back of the Superbike proper pack.
“It’s not so different to the 2012 Suzuki. In first and second, on the edge of the tyre, it felt the same but after that, the Superbikes just disappear.”
It is the first time since his Aprilia days that Camier hasn’t raced with his crew of Frankie Carchedi and Pete Bancewicz, who were also with him at GSE Racing. Carchedi is currently on loan to PBM in MotoGP while Bancewicz is on a sabbatical.
“I didn’t how it would be without them, but I got on really well with all the BMW technicians and we had a laugh. You have to change your style for how the bike can be ridden. I was asking to change stuff for different corners but the boys said we couldn’t do it as the electronics can’t do that.”
