Saturday’s Superpole at Phillip Island, Australia, for the opening round of this year’s World Superbikes (WSB), eventually saw me qualify on the fourth row. It could have been higher but I got blocked by James Toseland in Superpole 2 just as I was putting in a fast lap so I pulled in to change to race tyres.

Going out with only a few minutes left, I dropped my Alitalia Aprilia RVS4 Factory at the Honda hairpin and, although I was able to get straight back on the bike, time had run out to set another qualifying lap so I had to settle for 16th fastest with a time of 1:32.895.

Race one of the 22 laps on Sunday saw the circuit dry and cooler than the previous days and with the lights changing to give us the off, I managed to get up to 11th gaining five places by the end of the first lap. Up front fellow Brit Leon Haslam, riding the Alstare Suzuki, was setting a fast pace, being chased hard by the works Ducati of Michelle Fabrizio.

As the laps were counting down I managed to get up to ninth in a pack with six other riders and was feeling really comfortable with team-mate Max Biaggi getting up to fifth. But I had a split-second lapse of concentration with seven laps to go approaching the Honda hairpin. I missed my braking point, went up the service road and had to do a u-turn, which messed me up and I dropped down to 12th. With only seven laps left it wasn’t possible to regain my position and I had to settle for 11th.

Just four thousandths of a second separated eventual winner Haslam and Fabrizio!

By the end of the first lap in race two I’d passed nine riders to get up to seventh, the Aprilia was running really sweet. Up front both the Suzukis were giving the works Ducatis a run for their money. In front of me was Chris Vermeulen on the works Kawasaki and shadowing him for a couple of laps I managed to squeeze past and hold sixth; next in line was James Toseland riding the R1 Yamaha.

Before I could take James, Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati), passed me, which dropped me back to seventh. When I attempted to pass Toseland, we ended up going a bit wide. Then I shifted into the wrong gear and overshot at pretty much the same place as in race one.

That relegated me down to 14th. With the laps quickly ticking away, I had to be a little cautious where to overtake. Phillip Island is seriously fast and there are not many places you can make a clean pass.

Ultimately I managed to pass a couple of riders and took the chequered flag in 11th – the same ending as race one with team-mate Max Biaggi finishing in eighth. Checa did eventually win the race with a last lap overtake on Haslam.

Generally I’m pleased with the result; there’s still work to do on the Aprilia, but it leaves me in ninth position overall ahead of the next race in Portugal later this month.

To find out more about Leon Camier and how you can help support a local rider, visit www.leon-camier.net