Camier out of home Donington round, won’t return until September

Leon Camier has been forced to withdraw from his home World Superbike Championship round at Donington Park after failing to recover enough strength in his shoulder to return to racing action.

The Moriwaki Althea Honda rider has been out of action since round four at Imola after being involved in an accident at the Italian venue, one that has required time for his damaged shoulder to fully heal.

Indeed, though Camier returned to some form of training with a Supermoto outing last week, he says the strength and stability he needs to ride the Honda CBR1000RR hasn’t returned meaning he won’t ride at Donington Park nor the US WorldSBK round at Laguna Seca the following weekend.

As such, Camier won’t be seen on the grid until September at the earliest with the decision taken so he can use the six-week summer hiatus to concentrate on returning to full strength.

“I’m really disappointed to have to miss two more rounds, despite having definitely made good progress, which my doctor is actually really happy with. I’ve now recovered full range of motion and have started to do strength exercises already.

“Unfortunately, this is where I’m still having some problems. I attempted to complete a few laps on a Supermoto but can see that I still don’t have enough strength or stability when braking, as well as still experiencing noticeable pain when doing so.

As I said, it’s very frustrating, but at least the doctor is confident I will fully recover with no need for surgery. I look forward to being back for the Portimao test in August where we can take time to calmly work on bike development and set-up.”

Having called upon Yuki Takahashi as stand-in for Camier at Jerez and Misano, Honda says it will not run a second bike alongside Ryuichi Kiyonari in the UK or the US.