WSBK: Camier and Barni Racing Split Due to Injury Woes

Leon Camier and the Barni Racing Team have announced that they will part ways ahead of the resumption of the 2020 WorldSBK season.

The two parties split by mutual consent just over a week before racing gets back underway in Jerez.

Camier completed 13 practice laps at the opening round at Phillip Island. However, he was subsequently declared unfit due to ongoing injury woes and missed all three races.

The British rider’s 2019 season had been struck by injury issues and 2020 was set to be a new start with Barni Racing and Ducati.

But Camier sustained yet another set of injuries during winter testing in Aragon, fracturing his shoulder and wrist. While the extended break due to the coronavirus outbreak gave the 33-year-old a chance to recover, the recent Misano test indicated that he will need more time to get back to full fitness.

Both rider and team consequently decided to end their partnership given the lack of recovery time between rounds on the rescheduled calendar.

It has been announced that he will be replaced by Marco Melandri who makes a shock return to the WorldSBK grid.

A Difficult Decision

It was not an easy choice for either party. Team Principal Marco Barnabo insisted that the outfit had and continues to have strong belief in Camier’s ability. However, he stated that the decision had to be taken for the good of the team and to protect the health of the rider.

Camier meanwhile admitted that he will need time off racing to fully recover and wished the Barni Racing Team all the best.

Speaking about the decision and what led to it he said:

“It’s a very unfortunate situation for both the team and me. I want to be fair to Barni, he’s a great guy with lots of passion and he believed in me despite me coming back from injury. Like a bad twist of fate, I again picked up a shoulder injury – not the same as last year but a different issue – crashing on the Ducati last year during testing in Aragon.

Barni stuck with me 100% and in Phillip Island he never put pressure on me to ride and put my health as a first priority when it was too early to come back. During the off-time due to the Covid-19 situation, I gave the shoulder the rest it needed and as always in close consultation with my doctors, I re-started training and got my body fitness at the highest level again. I didn’t really feel the shoulder anymore, also rode supermotard without any problem. But at the Misano test end of June again I started to feel the shoulder.”

He assured there was no structural problem and that he felt confident he could return to fitness, but had to make a difficult decision in the meantime.

“We have found a mutual agreement for a settlement that gives the team the opportunity to enter a replacement rider and me the opportunity to focus on a full recovery without the time pressure of a next upcoming test or race. How unfortunate it may be, injuries are part of our sport, I wish Barni and the guys all the best. For me, it’s time to get fully fit again.”

Leon Camier

Leon Camier