Ashford's Leon Camier will continue to race in the World Superbike Championship next season after signing for the Crescent Suzuki team.

Camier, 25, spent the last two seasons racing for Aprilia Alitalia, finishing the 2011 campaign in seventh position, but was replaced for 2012 by Northern Ireland's Eugene Lafferty.

The length of the deal is yet to be confirmed, as is Camier's team-mate, but the agreement suits both parties.

Camier (pictured) will get more experience in a championship which, MotoGP aside, is the leading racing series in the world, while Crescent Suzuki will make their World Superbikes debut with a rider who is a regular points scorer and counts two second places, at the US rounds of the series in 2010 and 2011, as his best results.

Speaking on his official website, Camier said: “I am absolutely thrilled and excited to be joining the Crescent team and with the opportunity to ride the GSX-R1000.

"My first two years in World Superbikes have been tough, but I’ve learnt a lot and had some good results to build on.

"I’m really looking forward to the new season and I believe that the Suzuki GSX-R is certainly a very capable bike, especially with the technical plan the guys have in place.

"This is a fantastic chance for me to take the next step in my career and I’m very thankful to the guys at Crescent.”

Camier is scheduled to start testing with his new team later this month. The first race of the 2012 season will be held at Phillip Island, Australia on February 26.