MOTORSPORT VISION:

Leon Camier has the opportunity to seal the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli in the opening race of this Sunday’s penultimate round at Silverstone.

The Airwaves Yamaha rider, who has amassed a 99.5 points advantage in the points standings with a string of 16 race victories, needs only to finish ahead of his nearest rival, team-mate James Ellison, in the opening 20 lap race at the Northamptonshire circuit to secure the sport’s premier crown.

For the GSE Racing team that runs the Airwaves Yamahas, it is almost a replay of the same situation they found themselves in last year when their lead rider Shane Byrne needed only a top ten finish to take the crown – he did just that, coming in third in a race won by his team-mate Camier.

Already assured of the team prize, the Airwaves team will be concentrating their efforts on Camier securing the trophy in the first race, though nothing can be taken for granted after two blips in the previous two rounds, with first an exclusion on a machine technicality at Cadwell Park and then an error running wide at Croft.

Ellison equally has all to race for. His second place in the overall standings is under threat from Flying Scot Stuart Easton who celebrated a long overdue maiden race win in the top flight in the previous round. Riding the Hydrex Honda, the Hawick rider has show both consistency and quality across the season, racking up 11 other top three finishes, and with five races remaining, he is only 32 points down on Ellison.

They have all to fight for, and that is also the case in the duel for fourth place overall, currently held by Relentless Suzuki by TAS rider Ian Lowry. He is feeling the heat from Josh Brookes, riding HM Plant Honda, who closed within three points of him with a brace of thirds at Croft. The Aussie has the stronger finishing record of the two with seven podium results, and is currently showing the class that took him to the fore in World Supersport racing.

Brookes will be re-united in the HM Plant team with fellow Australian Glen Richards who has recovered from the serious leg injuries sustained in a tumble at Knockhill back in July. Richards, who won Superstock and Supersport titles in the previous two years, is keen to end this campaign on a positive note.

Simon Andrews and Julien da Costa on the MSS Colchester Kawasakis are within a handful of points of Brookes and Lowry and could move ahead in the standings, though they will be mindful of the challenges coming in from Karl Harris, riding the sorrymate.com Honda. Motorpoint Henderson Yamaha rider Chris Walker and former MotoGP rider Sylvain Guintoli aboard the Worx Crescent Suzuki should also be posing questions amid the front-running pack.

Gary Mason, already assured of the Mirror.co.uk Cup, will be aiming for another daily double aboard the Quay Garage Honda by way of celebration while Peter Hickman needs strong points if he is to take the runner-up position on his Ultimate Racing Yamaha ahead of Martin Jessop and Tom Tunstall.