Leon Camier made a convincing return to action, both in terms of result and pace, on the first race day of the Pirelli French round.

After qualifying in tenth place at the end of a wet Superpole session, Leon scored a positive seventh place finish in Race 1, in dry conditions, the best result of the year so far for him and the team.

For teammate Ryuichi Kiyonari, the day had a more disappointing outcome, especially after qualifying in which he closed in ninth place, the fastest Honda rider. Ryuichi was not able to replicate that performance in the subsequent race and was forced to settle for eighteenth place.


Leon Camier  2 - 7th

“I’m happy enough with today. I pushed as hard as I could and did as much as I could, even though I was struggling in some areas, especially at the end. My shoulder was fine, it was more my hands and arms, having not used them for a long time. By the end of the race, mainly in the changes of direction, I was hanging on by my fingertips and it was challenging, because you need good control in that area. There were also some damp patches on the asphalt. Anyway, I managed not to make any big mistakes and we scored a result that’s not too bad. I feel like the bike has improved in a couple of areas and the handling was also better. This was another of the day’s positives.”

Ryuichi Kiyonari  23 - 18th

“I’m very disappointed with today’s race result because the weekend had started well already yesterday, and things went even better in qualifying this morning. I like this track and so I was hoping for quite a different result. Instead I struggled with rear grip at the beginning of the race and although I improved my pace lap after lap, I honestly wasn’t quick enough in adapting to the changing conditions. An experience we will try and utilize in order to do better tomorrow.”