FIXI Crescent Suzuki's Leon Camier raced to the team's maiden WSB podium during race two of this afternoon's 12th round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship event from Nurburgring in Germany.

Camier didn't get a good start from seventh on the grid in the second race and was in 12th position at the end of the first lap, but the Englishman kept his head and clinically and methodically picked his way through the field to move up into a podium position by lap 13. Camier then made a pass on the Aprilia of Eugene Laverty to take second place from the Irishman, a position that Camier held for the next four laps. Laverty made his way past the FIXI Crescent Suzuki rider, after Camier nearly high-sided at the final chicane and lost ground, but the Suzuki star never gave up and challenged for second place all the way to the line in the final two laps. He finished just 0.200 seconds from P2, but was delighted to have given the team its first podium of the season, which is an indication of the hard work the whole crew have put in this year.

Camier's first race was arguably better than his second, after a technical problem forced him to the pits before the start of the race and meant he had to begin the 20-lap event from 22nd and last on the grid. He got a good start - making up six places on lap one - before continuing to pick off riders one-by-one, while producing race-leading lap-times for the remainder of the race. Camier finally powered his FIXI Crescent Suzuki GSX-R over the line in fifth, still closing in strongly on fourth place. Camier's two results today were his best haul from a weekend's work in Suzuki colours and he will now head to the final two rounds of the season with a renewed vigour.

John Hopkins was somewhat overshadowed by Camier today, but his performances deserve merit after he rode his Yoshimura-powered Suzuki GSX-R to 12th and 13th in the two races. Hopkins was returning to a circuit that held some painful memories for him after he crashed and was run over there - and knocked unconscious - on his first and only previous visit. He came to terms with the demanding and technically difficult 5,137m track over the weekend and battled hard to get his machine into points scoring positions in both races.

Today's two races were equally both exciting, not just from a FIXI Crescent Suzuki point of view, but for the fans as well. Max Biaggi took victory - his first-ever at Nurburgring - in race one and regained his championship lead, despite crashing out and remounting in the second race. British rider Chaz Davies was triumphant in the race two to take his premier victory in a World Superbike race in his first season in the class.

FIXI Crescent Suzuki will now head for the Algarve region of Portugal for the penultimate event of 2012, as the Superbike World Championship takes to the track at Portimao for round 13 on Sunday 23rd September.

Leon Camier:

"It has been an eventful weekend - as usual - beginning with having to start from the last row of the grid in race one. The FIXI Crescent Suzuki team did a great job fixing the problem and getting me back out again in time for the warm-up lap. When the race began, I put my head down and just went for it and was soon overtaking riders one-by-one and making good progress lap-by-lap. At the end, I was getting closer and closer to Sykes and I think I would've also passed him, but I just ran out of time.

"I got a horrible start in race two and once again had to work my socks off getting through the pack. I got up to third place after 13 laps and passed Laverty two laps later, but a bit of a 'moment' in the final chicane, one lap from the end, let Laverty back through and although I gave it everything I had, he just held me off.

"I'm very happy with the podium - it's been a long time - and the result in race one wasn't bad either. Today, the bike felt pretty good. The chassis has always been good and the Motec electronics are working extremely well and all this has given us a chance of running with the best. I'm really looking forward to the next couple of races and hope the team can continue to make progress and we get more results like today."

John Hopkins:

"I knew today was going to be tough, and it was. My grid position didn't help and although the tyres were pretty consistent, I just didn't feel confident enough to really throw the bike into the corners and get hard on the gas on the apexes. I rode as hard as I could, kept the rubber side down and brought the FIXI Crescent Suzuki home in the points. I would like to congratulate Leon on a good job done today and thank him for giving the team its first podium of the year. It's been a long time coming, but a good reward for all the hard work."

Jack Valentine - Team Manager:

"Race one was a bit of a drama, but the FIXI Crescent Suzuki boys did a great job to get Leon back into the race. He started from the back of the grid and then put in a mega performance, picking off riders, to end an incredible fifth! After the first race, we were all looking forward to the second because we had seen how consistently fast Leon had been lapping and knew he had a chance of a great result. We chose a slightly softer tyre, as we felt we needed to be on the pace early on rather than wait for the later stages. Our choice worked, but we had to wait for a while because Leon made a terrible start and once again had to work his way through the field. To finish third was a tremendous result, but if he had made a good start, who knows how good the result could've been! He's showed how good a rider he is and also how good the FIXI Crescent Suzuki is. His result was not down to luck at all and his epic battle with Laverty could've gone either way. I am very impressed with the way he rode the bike today. These results show what hard work can achieve and credit should be given to both the FIXI Crescent Suzuki crews - especially Leon's Crew Chief Frankie who did a great job with chassis set-up and John's Crew Chief - and the team's Chief Engineer Lez Pearson who did a great job servicing and finding the extra performance from the engines this weekend."


Nurburgring - eni FIM Superbike World Championship - Race One:

1. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) 38'52.751: 2. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia) 38'55.778: 3. Chaz Davies (Aprilia) 38'55.878: 4. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 39'05.057: 5. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) 39'06.882. 13. John Hpkins (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) 39'39.676.

Nurburgring - eni FIM Superbike World Championship - Race Two:

1. Davies 39'00.327: 2. Laverty 39'03.349: 3. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) 39'03.549: 4. Jonathan Rea (Honda) 39'06.032: 5. Sykes 39'07.631. 12. John Hopkins (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) 39'29.469.

World Championship Classification:

1. Biaggi 315:
2. Marco Melandri (BMW) 308.5:
3. Sykes 280.5:
Carlos Checa (Ducati) 237.5:
Rea 212.5.
12. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) 104.5.
20. John Hopkins (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) 31.

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