Leon Camier battled to ninth place in race one of the World Superbike Championship in Spain on Sunday.

But mechanical problems ended the Ashford rider's hopes in the second race and he was forced to retire after 17 laps.

FIXI Crescent Suzuki ace Camier (pictured) climbed from 14th to 10th in an impressive start to the opening race at Motorland Aragon.

He was 11th as the final lap started but a collision between Ayrton Badovini and Tom Sykes opened the door and he grabbed a deserved ninth.

Camier made another bright start in the second race and sat 10th before his bike broke down.

He said: "The funny thing is that I felt I was riding really well. I was all over most of the other riders in the turns and on the brakes but was losing out on accelaration out of the slow corners.

"On the back straight, I was losing somewhere between three and five-tenths-of-a-second and that's hard to make up in this level of competition."

He added: "If we can improve the acceleration out of the turns and get a bit more power, I think that our bike is capable of competing with the best."

Suzuki manager Jack Valentine insists the team will work hard to beat their technical issues.

He said: "Both riders failed to finish the second race because of mechanical problems. That disappoints me and shows us there's a lot of hard work to be done. I'm sure we'll solve the problems and come back stronger."

The ninth round of the World Superbike Championship takes place in the Czech Republic on Sunday, July 22.