AIRWAVES YAMAHA LOOK TO CONTINUE CHAMPIONSHIP CHARGE AT DONINGTON PARK

The British Superbike Championship heads to Donington Park in Derby this Bank Holiday weekend for the third round of the 2009 season. Having scored three race wins out of a possible four so far, current series leaders Airwaves Yamaha will be looking to continue their good form and secure more valuable championship points from the two 20-lap races.

At the previous round at Oulton Park, Leon Camier (22) recorded his maiden British Superbike pole position and followed up with a career-first double win. He now lies 11 points clear at the top of the Championship table.

Leon, from Ashford in Kent, is looking forward to getting back aboard his Yamaha YZF-R1 this weekend saying, “The Airwaves Yamaha team has been working hard since Oulton Park on developing the race bikes and getting new engines ready, so it’ll be great to see how the new package performs. Until we get on track it’ll be hard to predict how we’ll do, but if our top speed is competitive, I think we’ll be looking good for some more strong results. Heading into this weekend leading the Championship is a great feeling, but it’s still early days and we need to continue to learn and improve so that we’re still top come the final round in October”.

James Ellison (28) from Kendal in Cumbria, narrowly missed out on his first podium for the Airwaves Yamaha team at the previous round, but is confident about the races ahead saying, “I can’t wait to get to Donington Park. I love the circuit and it’s always been a favourite of mine. I went into the previous round feeling confident but we made quite slow progress on bike set-up and it wasn’t until the second race that a change to the gearing saw us make a huge leap forward. After race two at Oulton Park, I now understand the bike much better and so I’ll be aiming to be at the front of the field more consistently from now on”.

The third round of the British Superbike Championship takes place on Monday 25th May.

Airwaves Yamaha got the second round of the British Superbike Championship underway at a sunny Oulton Park today. Brands Hatch winner Leon Camier finished the day 2nd and 4th fastest, with teammate James Ellison 10th and 3rd.

Following his win last time out, Leon was looking forward to climbing aboard the Airwaves Yamaha YZF-R1 once again. His fastest time of the day, 1:37.608 came on his 19th and final lap of morning practice, securing 2nd. Although only completing 5 laps in the second session, Leon was still able to post the 4th fastest time of the afternoon.

“We’ve had a good first day and I’m feeling really positive about the rest of the weekend. Our progress so far has gone better than I had expected, and our times are definitely encouraging so early on. We know where we’ve got some improvements to make so I’m looking forward to getting a decent amount of laps in ahead of qualifying tomorrow.”

James, who twice finished on the podium here last year, worked hard to consistently reduce his lap times throughout the day. His fastest time of 1:37.314 came on lap 19 of 22 during second practice.

“I feel really happy with our results this afternoon. We started off with the same gearing I used in 2008, but this morning the Airwaves Yamaha was feeling quite aggressive and I didn’t feel completely comfortable. Between sessions we had a close look at the data and found I was always a gear lower than Leon. So for the second session we adjusted the settings and literally kicked it up a gear, immediately seeing a difference. There’s still some pace to find so we’ll continue to push tomorrow, but it’s looking good for qualifying and the two races on Monday.”

Qualifying for the second round of the British Superbike championship commences tomorrow, Sunday 3rd May at 1530.

 

Shane Byrne set the fastest time in both practice sessions in round one of the 2008 British Superbike season at Brands Hatch today. Leon Camier, who is still suffering from a sore shoulder since his crash in Calafat, put in an excellent performance to come 7th and 5th.

In the first 50 minute session Byrne was on pace from the start setting quick times before taking the lead mid-way through practice. His fastest time of 1:26.998 came on his 18th lap of 20. He then completed more laps in second practice than anybody else setting consistently fast times throughout. He set the fastest lap of the day, 1:26.657 on lap 21 of 29.

Shane was pleased with his performance saying; “If the rest of the season goes like this we’re laughing. The whole team have worked really hard at testing to get the bike as good as it is. I have said how good it is to be back on a Ducati but to be at a race weekend on a Ducati is fantastic. Both sessions went well today and I felt really good with on the Airwaves Ducati. It has taken a bit of time getting used to Pirelli tyres but we are working well together and I am confident that I will perform well in qualifying.”

Leon’s fastest time of the day, 1:27.675 came towards the end of this afternoon’s session. He completed a total of 43 laps today, exceeding all expectations considering his shoulder injury.

He was pleased to be back on track commenting; “It has been a long time coming for me but I am pleased with how things have gone today. My shoulder is sore from my Calafat crash but once I was out there today it did not cause me too many problems. I am pretty happy with my times, I have a few things I want to work on in the morning but I’m sure I will be up there in qualifying.”