By Carly Rathmell
July 14 2005

Current British Supersport leader, 18-year-old Leon Camier from Ashford, Kent, has been offered a factory ride in the prestigious Suzuka 8-Hour race on the 31st July 2005, on board a Honda FireBlade with the Moriwaki Team.

Camier, who is a five times British Grasstrack Champion; and the youngest ever British 125 Champion, is eagerly awaiting his trip to Japan.

The 5.8 km circuit owned by Honda, will run this race from 11:30am to 7:00pm on the 31st July, and Camier and his team-mate, Naoki Matsudo, will change over every 50 minutes in hope of running up there with the front runners. The historic race has been won by some huge names in the motorcycle fraternity, including Wayne Gardner, Aaron Slight, Colin Edwards, the awesome Valentino Rossi, and Camier’s racing hero Mick Doohan - to name but a few.

Camier, who has now notched up four race wins in the British Supersport class this season - more than any other riders this yearm is excited about this opportunity, saying, “This is one race that I’ve always wanted to do, and to get this chance so early in my career is fantastic. When I was offered the ride about a month ago I jumped at the chance, knowing it would be too much of a fantastic opportunity to turn down. I am flying out to Japan a week before so that I can get myself acclimatised, and also get a bit of testing under my belt on the FireBlade. It’s such an historic race that I will be proud to be a part of. I hope myself and Naoki can achieve some good results out there.”

Camier’s team-mate for the tough Endurance race is experienced GP 125, GP 250 and 250 Japanese Champion Naoki Matsudo. The Japanese star is an extremely talented rider and, between the pairing, they should expect a confident result. Matsudo, who celebrates his 32nd birthday on the 25th of July, will bring plenty of knowledge and wisdom into the team.

For more information on Leon Camier, and to keep up to speed with his progress at the Suzuka 8-Hour, check out his website · www.leoncamier.com