Leon Camier moved into the top-10 standings in this year’s World Superbike Championships after equalling his best finish of the season so far, at Imola in Italy on Sunday.

The Ashford-born FIXI Crescent Suzuki rider finished seventh in his second ride of the day with a determined and impressive display, confirming his recovery from the knee injury he suffered two rounds ago in Spain.

Camier finished ninth in his opening race, despite struggling with braking issues. reversing his two results last time out in Assen.

Camier said: ”I had a pretty good start in the second race and got past team-mate Jules Cluzel on the first lap. I then tried to get in a rhythm and not lose the tow.

“It took me a lap or two to get the feel and confidence in the brakes, because we’d made a change to them for the second race. They felt ok, not as good in performance, but more consistent, so at least I could race with them.

“The set-up of the bike also worked better and let me do a bit more in the race, but I think the results are what we can expect at this track. Yoshimura and the Crescent team have done a great job and the engine performance is in a different world to last year, but I don’t think we could have done much more.”