Leon Camier surprised himself by claiming victory in race two of the British Superbike Championship season opener at Brands Hatch on Monday.

Camier had not raced on the new Airwaves Yamaha machine before the Easter weekend, but after finishing fourth in race one, he improved further in race two and took the chequered flag.

“I can’t believe it,” said the Ashford racer. “I’m just amazed with how the weekend has gone for us. We had no testing on but we stayed positive and we have been consistent which has really been the key.

“After the first race I knew I had the pace to be on the podium, but to win is amazing. In the first race I made a few mistakes which really cost me but the performance of the YZF R1 was faultless.”

The opening race was won by Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli with Camier finishing seven seconds adrift in fourth, a decent finish after almost being taken off the track by Steve Plater who slid off, in an incident which left him trailing in tenth.

Camier had a scrap on his hands in race two and he had to pick off the top placed riders as he was sitting sixth in the early stages.

A move on Stuart Easton with just over 10 laps remaining gave him the lead and he held on despite pressure from Guintoli.

After round one Camier sits second in the championship behind Guintoli.

Results: Race 1 - Sylvain Guintoli (Worx Crescent Suzuki), 2 Glen Richards (HM Plant Honda) +0.952s, 3 Stuart Easton (Hydrex Honda) +3.086s, 4 Leon Camier (Airwaves Yamaha) +7.007s, 5 James Ellison (Airwaves Yamaha) +7.814s, 6 Gary Mason (Quay Garage Honda) +8.505s.

Race 2 - 1 Leon Camier (Airwaves Yamaha), 2 Sylvain Guintoli (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +2.319s, 3 Steve Plater (HM Plant Honda) +3.347s, 4 Stuart Easton (Hydrex Honda) +3.772s, 5 Glen Richards (HM Plant Honda) +3.915s, 6 Karl Harris (Hydrex Honda) +11.121s.

Current Standings: 1 Guintoli 45pts, 2 Camier 38, 3 Richards 31, 4 Easton 29, 5 Ellison 20, 6 Mason 17.