World Superbike protagonist Leon Camier is relishing the opportunity to be reunited with the Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 for pre-season testing at Phillip Island in Australia.

Camier and American rider John Hopkins will spearhead Crescent Suzuki’s maiden foray into World Superbikes under the guidance of team manager Jack Valentine in 2012.

And the 25-year-old from Kent, the 2009 British Superbike champion, is itching to get back into the saddle as the countdown to the opening round at Phillip Island on February 26 begins in earnest.

Camier, who tested the machine at Portimao at the end of last season, told the official World Superbike website: “There is a good feeling in the team and everyone speaks English, so we can get on and speak the lingo.

“There were a few issues during our first test but considering that, and that we did not get time to fix things and change the bike much, we were still only a second off on race tyres. I am pretty happy with it and there were quite a few positives to take away.”

Camier will ride the full-spec Crescent Suzuki at Phillip Island, where he will have a trick engine prepared by legendary tuning company Yoshimura at his disposal.

“As far as I know Yoshimura will be about engine development and finding more power,” he said. “The engine we rode in Portimao was not one of their trick engines but what we have in the pipeline for Phillip Island and 2012 will be very different. I am very interested in getting a feel for it at the next test.”

Camier left the factory Alitalia Aprilia team last year and admits he was disappointed with his two-year stint on the Italian RSV-4 alongside Max Biaggi.

“I am disappointed with the two years to be honest… I am frustrated we did not get the results we could have done. I learned a lot from it and I know for the future that I would be a lot more forceful to change things to how I want early on,” he said.

“There was a lot of potential with it and there were some reasons that I know about which were so frustrating, because we could not change them, and that makes the job really hard.”