Leon Camier has signed up with the Yoshimura Suzuki team to take part in the Suzuka 8 Hour endurance race in July.

The Fixi Crescent Suzuki ace has used his team’s connections with Yoshimura in the World Superbike championship to secure the ride for next month’s prestigious event in Japan.

The 25-year-old from Ashford will join Australian Superbike champion Josh Waters and Suzuki test rider Nobuatsu Aoki in the Yoshimura line-up for the race.

“I am absolutely thrilled to be racing in the Suzuka 8 hour this year and honoured that Yoshimura has asked me to take part in such a prestigious race,” said Camier.

“I have done the Suzuka 8 hour race three times before (in 2005, 2006 and 2007) but have never been particularly successful there, so I am hoping that this year will see a change of luck.

“It’s an amazing race and probably the hardest – both physically and mentally – that a racer does. The temperatures are usually very hot and the track is so physical, it just saps all your energy.

“It is a hard track to learn because it is so long and it is also technically very demanding. I will have to learn how to ride the Yoshimura GSX-R on Bridgestone tyres, but hopefully that will not be too much of a problem and I can run consistent lap times.

“My goal is to get to grips with the tyres as soon as I can, keep up a good pace; and still be fast at the end of the race.”

Yoshimura, who supply the engines and exhaust systems for Crescent, have won the race four times before.