Crescent Fixi Suzuki enters the WSB fray
The prime Suzuki effort in SBK racing in 2012, the Crescent Fixi Suzuki Team, had its first taste of competition at Phillip Island and despite not taking away the kind of results the British-based team had hoped for first time out there were indications that the future will be bright.
Despite a relative lack of top end from their first spec engines when compared to some of their rivals Leon Camier was able to lap strongly in race two for a time, after contact with another rider in race one ruined his chance of a points scoring ride.
Camier was 17th and then 12th in the races and stated, "Of course, I wanted better results today but we've gathered masses of information in the team's first ever SBK race (Ed. this year) and I'm positive that we'll see a big improvement in Imola. I can't tell you how happy I am with the GSXR's chassis - for me it has the potential to win races. The bike brakes really well, is stable in mid-corner and I'm perfectly happy with its character. If we can get a bit more power, we'll be contenders for sure. In race one, I got pushed off the track by Giugliano and lost ground. I started chasing back to catch up, but as the race went on the tyre wore out completely and I couldn't push any harder. In the second race, I got hemmed in going into turn one, lost ground and was 14th at the end of lap one. I was able to pass a lot of people on the brakes, but lost out on acceleration and top speed and again the way I had to ride to compensate destroyed the tyre at the end. This was a tough day but the potential is huge."
The ‘new boys' in the SBK paddock now have much data to take to the next round at Imola where they will continue on their steep learning curve at full pace.
