Leon Camier battled to a 13th and an 11th at Miller Motorsport at the sixth round of the World Superbike Championship, coming from 20th on the grid after a tyre issue hampered his qualifying.

The FIXI Crescent Suzuki rider had been strong all weekend and running on the pace, but when the soft tyre went in, Camier suffered a lack of grip, and was unable to post a fast time that he had showed he was capable of doing.

He started from the fifth row of the grid in both races, but worked hard to finish in the points.

He said, “After qualifying we found out that the tyre had a fault, and we knew today [Monday] would be difficult because of our grid position.

“This championship is so competitive that you need to be on the first two rows of the grid if you want a shot at the podium. I made good starts and progressed well in both races and rode as hard as I could today.

“They were a couple of tough races, but I was happy with my race pace and know that I could’ve finished a lot higher up if I had started with a better grid position. I feel we’ll definitely be better at the more twisty tracks – like our next race in Misano – and I am looking forward to qualifying better and fighting for a top-six or a podium.”

John Hopkins’ run of bad luck continued in America, and after missing the round before at Donington through injury, his return was short lived after he crashed out in race one, his hitting a kerb and sliding from underneath him.

In race two Hopkins suffered with a technical issue that caused him to lose power. He battled all the way to the line to try and secure a points-scoring position, before eventually bringing his machine home safely in 16th.

Hopkins said, “I’m happy to be back with the FIXI Crescent Suzuki team, but disappointed that I was only able to do seven laps in the first race.

“I clipped the kerb with the generator cover and was flicked off and that was that. Luckily I didn’t hurt myself, but afterwards I was really looking forward to race two and doing better.

“I started OK but, as the race wore on, my bike began to suffer with a technical problem and I couldn’t push as hard as I would’ve liked. I kept going as fast as I could, but just missed out on the points.”

Jack Valentine, the Team Manager, added, “Leon rode as hard as he could and I’m happy because he did everything we asked of him.

“He kept the bike upright and brought it home in both races. If he had qualified on the first two rows of the grid, I think his race pace would’ve been good enough for a top-six finish.

“It was good to have John back and we were all looking forward to him completing two races today and getting back into the groove. Fortunately he was unhurt in his crash in race one and a technical problem in race two meant that he couldn’t fight for a top-10 finish.

“It was a shame because his race pace in qualifying had been pretty good and I’m sure that he would’ve finished much higher if he hadn’t had the problem. This series is tough and having to start so far down the grid makes life even more difficult.

“We’re going to have to qualify better and give ourselves a chance of good results, but I am positive we can do that with the quality of the riders we have and the team behind them.”