Camier joins Red Bull Honda for 2018

Camier joins Red Bull Honda for 2018

Leon Camier will switch to the Red Bull Honda squad for the 2018 World Superbike championship from MV Agusta.

The 2009 British Superbike champion was strongly linked with a switch to the Ten Kate Racing-run squad throughout the season and a deal for next year has been confirmed which will see Camier join the factory Honda squad.

Since the tragic death of Nicky Hayden the Red Bull Honda squad has been without a full-time second rider alongside Stefan Bradl but the German has also be blighted by a number of injuries which have ruled him out of the remainder of 2017.

As a result, the factory Honda team will rotate between replacement riders Davide Giugliano, Jake Gagne and Takumi Takahashi for the remaining two rounds of the season before welcoming Camier to the team during winter testing.

Honda World Superbike operating manager Marco Chini is thrilled to secure Camier for 2018 and is confident the British rider can help lift the performance of the new Fireblade after a difficult introduction this year.

“We’re extremely happy to have Leon on board for the upcoming WorldSBK season,” Chini said. “He’s a great talent and an extremely professional rider, so I’m sure it will be a pleasure to work with him.

“We’re confident that his expertise will help us raise the performance of the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 to a whole new level so we’re looking forward to the new challenge.

“Right now, however, there’s still a season to complete, so we are fully concentrated on the remaining rounds in order to improve our package and finish the year on a high note.”

After graduating from BSB as champion in 2009, Camier spent two years racing for Aprilia in the World Superbike championship before switiching to Suzuki for two seasons.

Camier found himself without a full-time ride in World Superbike in 2014 but acted as replacement rider for BMW and then MV Agusta where he was able to secure a full-time ride with the Italian manufacturer since 2015.