Leon Camier will remain on the World Superbike Championship grid next season after agreeing a deal to join the Barni Racing team on a Ducati Panigale V4 R.
The Briton, who has competed in WorldSBK since 2010 after dominating the 2009 British Superbike Championship, replaces Michael Ruben Rinaldi in the leading satellite outfit.
The deal brings Camier’s two-year tenure with Honda to an end, the Briton showing flashes of performance over seasons hampered by injuries and uncompetitive machinery.
It also means Ducati heads into the 2020 WorldSBK with at least a trio of British riders in its midst having signed Scott Redding alongside Chaz Davies in the factory Aruba.it Ducati team.
“I am very much looking forward to the new challenge in the next season," Leon Camier said. "I will use all my riding and development skills to achieve top level results together with Marco and his team.
“They have a close relation to the factory, are a very passionate, engineering driven group with focus on results and I believe we will work well together. Having said that my focus now is first to finish the season as strong as possible in Qatar with my current team».
Leon Camier 's best chance to show his worth in WorldSBK?
Though the 2020 WorldSBK season will be Camier’s tenth in the premier Superbike series, many feel the talented Briton has never quite been in the right place at the right time to really demonstrate his potential in the series.
Making his debut with Aprilia in 2010 alongside Max Biaggi, Leon Camier notched up seven podiums over two seasons and arguably stood to win more had his bike not been reduced to a testbed to help his team-mate’s title aspirations.
A move to Suzuki at the tail-end of the GSX-R1000s usability brought good but hardly sparkling results thereafter, before a surprise switch to head up the single-bike MV Agusta factory effort delivered far stronger performances than many expected in 2016 and 2017. Ultimately though the team lacked the budget to really develop the F4RR into a convincing Kawasaki, Ducati and Yamaha challenger.
Honda should have been a chance to show his worth, but the already ageing CBR1000RR wasn’t a match for its rivals – under Ten Kate or Moriwaki Althea – while Camier’s suffered some time-sapping injuries in that period too. However, top ten results on his return to action recently, which also marked Honda’s best of the season, raised his stock again at a crucial time, leading to the interest from Barni.
Ironically, this will be Camier’s first WorldSBK season without direct factory backing, but the well-sorted and experienced Barni Racing team has a very strong – and reliable - base at its disposal. It just needs a fast rider to pilot it – perhaps one with something to prove…
