Leon Camier admits his 2011 season has been far from ideal so far after another tough weekend at World Superbike round eight at Brno.

The 24-year-old found himself behind the eight ball from the off when glandular fever severely affected his ability to ride or train for the opening rounds of the season.

That problem has been, if not eradicated, certainly controlled in recent months but the Ashford rider has still seen himself plagued by inconsistency, claiming three podium finishes but all too-often failing to mix it at the sharp end.

And those troubles continued at the Czech Republic track with Camier producing an impressive ride to qualify in seventh on the grid, only to struggle on race day.

Plagued by the increasingly worrying problem of poor starts the Aprilia Alitalia rider could only finish seventh in race one before crashing out of the second.

The paddock heads home for Camier in three week’s time with a trip to Silverstone for round nine and the Ashford ace admits his 2011 season so far has not been one to remember.

“We have had a pretty bad first half of the season,” said Camier. “I was ill for the first few races with glandular fever and then we have had some problems with the bike.

“We haven’t been able to work out what those problems are which has been really frustrating for me.”

Camier’s under-par race day in the Czech Republic was all the more galling as it saw him drop out of the top five in the overall standings, replaced by fellow Brit Leon Haslam.

And Camier revealed he is still feeling the effects of his early-season glandular fever.

“It is an ongoing thing that I have to think about and it affects training and my diet and things,” added Camier.

“I have to really monitor my recovery because I still feel tired a lot.”

WSB races will be shown on British Eurosport, with all European rounds in HD. British Eurosport – Sky channel 410 & Virgin Media 521. Eurosport HD is on Sky 412 & Virgin Media 522. Watch races live online at www.eurosportplayer.co.uk