WorldSBK: Leon Camier confirmed as Honda team manager

In a surprising turn of events, Leon Camier has been announced as the new Honda team manager.

Leon Camier has been confirmed as the new Honda WorldSBK team manager following his retirement from racing due to injuries which have been obtained over his riding career. He originally was signed to race for Barni Ducati for the 2020 WorldSBK season but was forced to withdraw from the opening round at Phillip Island following due to lingering injuries caused by a testing crash.

Eventually, it was decided that Barni Ducati and Camier would part ways leaving Camiers racing future uncertain. It has now become clear that he has retired as a rider to focus on team management and will be managing the HRC backed Honda WorldSBK efforts with riders Leon Haslam and Alvaro Bautista.

The news was confirmed in a statement from Leon saying, “I’ve been a Honda rider for several seasons during my career and I’m now very happy and proud to be back with the company for what is a major change in my professional and personal life. I thank Honda for the trust they have put in me – the WorldSBK project is very important and the new CBR1000RR-R FIREBLADE looks absolutely great.

“I’m prepared to work hard to achieve our goals; I always did so as a rider and I will continue in the same way as Team Manager. Having raced in SBK for many years, I know the championship and its challenges very well, although the current period further exacerbates these issues. But in working alongside two very strong riders like Alvaro and Leon, and such a professional group of people as Team HRC and the HRC engineers, I am confident we’ll be able to reach our full potential and fight for top results.

“We now have two days of testing at Jerez, it will be my first opportunity to work with the team and I really look forward to starting this new and exciting adventure.”

Featured image – HRC