Donington Park has been the home of MotoGP in Britain since 1987, but everything changes next year. The bikes go back to a modified Silverstone, with the Formula One cars coming to a drastically remodelled Donington. The 2009 BSB round would be raced on the existing Donington GP circuit, but with some of the remodelling work already completed. The most notable difference when considering the Superbike races was the absence of the familiar Dunlop bridge across Starkeys Straight.

The two most experienced BSB riders in the field this year, Michael Rutter and Chris Walker, were the only two to have won at Donington on a Superbike - with five and four victories respectively. But of course only Camier and Guintoli had also got BSB wins on their CVs, because don’t forget that Ryuichi Kiyonari, Gregorio Lavilla, Leon Haslam, Shane Byrne, Jonathan Rea, Tom Sykes and Cal Crutchlow have all moved on in the last couple of years and are racing elsewhere.

Airwaves Yamaha had another development step with their 2009 R1 machines here - specifically a new engine - and in qualifying they were duly at the front. In fact, Camier took pole position for the second time, and team-mate James Ellison was in third place, for his first start on the front row of the grid this year. Second place went to Guintoli on the Worx Crescent Suzuki, and in fourth was MSS Colchester Kawasaki rider Simon Andrews. This was his best yet in BSB, and the first front row for one of the green machines since April 2006.

The third Yamaha led row two, with Walker fifth on the Motorpoint/Henderson machine, and this was his best so far in 2009. He was joined by three Honda riders - firstly Glen Richards for HM Plant, and then the Hydrex bikes of Karl Harris and Stuart Easton. Ian Lowry was tenth for Relentless TAS Suzuki, joined on row three by team-mates of men ahead of him: Julien da Costa (MSS, ninth), Graeme Gowland (Motorpoint, eleventh) and Josh Brookes (HM Plant, twelfth).

The first Cup privateer was Gary Mason, in P13 with the Quay Garage Honda, and then came John Laverty and Tristan Palmer (both Buildbase Kawasaki). Jason O’Halloran was in P16 for SMT Honda, and row five was led by Jon Kirkham on the Jentin/Lloyds Yamaha. For the record, Harris, Easton and Lowry had all won at Donington in their Supersport careers, and Easton also in 125s before that.

There was some unfortunate drama even before the first race got started, in the shape of an incident on the warm-up lap. At the 180° right-handed Melbourne Hairpin, Guintoli was T-boned by Brookes, and the unlucky Frenchman ended up with broken bones in his right leg. He would obviously miss some rounds of the series, meaning that someone else would need to step up to challenge the supremacy of Airwaves Yamaha, as the Worx team would have a job now. Brookes was alright but would miss the race.

Camier lost places at the start, and it was team-mate Ellison that took the lead, with Walker, Easton and Richards next in line. Glen tried to get past Stuart at Melbourne, towards the end of lap one, but got out of shape and was overtaken by Leon. Andrews, da Costa, Harris and Lowry completed the top nine at this stage. Walker tried to get the lead from Ellison on lap two, going to the inside for the first right-handed Redgate Corner, but didn’t manage the pass. However, the left-right Fogarty Esses, at the end of Starkeys Straight, saw Camier pass Easton, braking for the first apex on the inside.

Ellison therefore led Walker, Camier, Easton, Richards, Andrews, da Costa, Harris, Lowry, Palmer, Mason and Gowland. Camier repeated his pass to take second from Walker at the Esses, and then set fastest lap chasing his leading team-mate. Palmer crashed at this stage, and meanwhile Andrews got past Richards and then moved into fourth, passing Easton on the inside at the right-handed McLeans Corner, at the opposite end of the circuit to the pits complex.

Camier quickly chased up from fifth at the start, and now he took the lead from Ellison at the Esses, braking on the inside line. The two Airwaves Yamaha riders were getting clear of the battle for third, which now saw Andrews attacking Walker. The right-handed Old Hairpin corner is at the bottom of the fast downhill Craner Curves section, and Simon was past Chris on the inside there, only for the Yamaha to power ahead into the immediate left-handed Starkeys Bridge bend. Andrews tried again at McLeans, but then did make it on the inside again at Old Hairpin. Easton was right with them, although Richards was now a little out of touch.

With Andrews into third, Walker now came in for attention from Easton. The Scot got by at the Esses, and immediately went for third place at Melbourne. He went in front of the Kawasaki, but then went wide at the next left-handed Goddards hairpin. However, on the way out Easton was right onto the apex and therefore repassed Andrews straight away. From his battle for a podium position, sadly Andrews managed to crash out at Goddards subsequently, and would not therefore improve on his best BSB result of fifth.

Camier’s lead over Ellison was extending, with Easton not in touch but starting to make his third place more secure. This left Walker and Richards racing for fourth, and Harris against da Costa for sixth. Glen moved ahead of Chris, finding the pace to take his Honda clear in fourth place. Karl was right behind Julien but the Honda rider managed to almost totally lose control as he shaped to go past at the Esses - he had to run on and therefore cross the grass on the right of the second apex. However, da Costa’s pace was starting to flag and he did soon lose the place.

Camier therefore made it four wins in a row, despite feeling somewhat unwell, from Ellison, Easton, Richards, Walker, Harris and da Costa. The last laps saw Lowry move past both Gowland (finishing tenth) and Laverty (ninth) to get another top eight result as the first Suzuki finisher. O’Halloran, Mason, Kirkham, Tom Tunstall and Martin Jessopp completed the points positions, with Mason making it five Cup wins out of five.

Brookes was on the grid for race two, although in the absence of Guintoli everyone bar Camier moved up a slot this time. For Walker this moved him to the front row, and with one of his super starts he initially took the lead, only to see Ellison find his way past through the downhill left Craner Curves. Easton was third, with Andrews quick to take fourth from Richards, and Camier only sixth, from Harris, Lowry and Brookes. Andrews took another place on the inside of Easton at McLeans.

Coming from Goddards onto the start-finish Wheatcroft Straight, there was a burst of vapour from the Honda engine of Harris and, probably with both water and oil leaking from the bike, he crashed out on the exit of Redgate. This incident, and with the track most likely slippery, was enough to bring out the red flag. With only a lap gone, the race was restarted from scratch, with Karl managing to make the grid again on his second bike.

This time it was Richards who got into second behind Walker, and with Camier better off in third, then Easton. Ellison ran wide at Old Hairpin, and Andrews pounced to move up to fifth, albeit briefly. Richards took the lead from Walker at McLeans, and behind there was a contest between Andrews and da Costa for sixth, in front of Harris. Ellison moved up behind his team-mate when he overtook Easton out of Goddards. Meanwhile, Harris was followed by Lowry, Mason, Brookes and Laverty.

Camier looked dangerous yet again, and he passed Walker on the inside for the Esses, only for the 37-year-old to get it back on the inside for Melbourne. Behind them, Australians O’Halloran and David Johnson crashed together when they got to the same corner - which meant the first no-score of the year for Jason, who was ninth in the table after five races. Camier did go past Walker at the Old Hairpin, with Chris fighting back going out but relegated to third.

Camier was now second to Richards, but the race one winner had a problem down into Melbourne Hairpin, where he went straight and then slowly around the bend at the extreme edge of the tarmac, to get out of the way. The Yamaha came to a halt as all Leon’s rivals rushed past, but he did manage to get it going again, now well outside the points. So Richards led Walker, Ellison, Easton, Andrews and da Costa. Only one of these had ever won races in BSB, and Walker’s last British championship race win had been in 2000, before his international career took off. We would be getting a new winner or a popular return winner.

There was a keen contest brewing. Easton overtook Ellison for third at Melbourne, with the Scot going on to get the fastest lap. Walker took the lead from Richards on the inside at Goddards, and now Stuart was in place to get second from Glen at the Old Hairpin. Ellison also went by Richards, who had been quickly pushed from first to fourth. Easton moved in front into the Esses, but Walker got him back at Melbourne; and still Andrews and da Costa tagged onto this leading group.

Now it was Ellison’s turn to make a play. At McLeans, with Andrews passing Richards just behind, James overtook Easton for second. Then the two lead Yamahas changed places round at the Old Hairpin, Ellison going through on the inside of Walker. As he then began to ease clear, Chris lost out on second to Stuart at the Esses. The first three began to get spaced out as they raced on. Richards had lost fifth to da Costa, but now the French rider started to drop back and would go on to lose a few places. Brookes crashed at the Esses at this stage.

Ellison raced on to his first victory, from Easton and then Walker. The late stages saw a tussle for fourth between Andrews and Richards. Glen overtook on the inside going into the Esses on the last lap, but somehow Simon got his Kawasaki inside the Honda through Goddards and emerged in front onto the main straight and to the line. Lowry took sixth, but his nearest rival Harris missed out on seventh - he’d had an incident at the Esses on the final lap and only sorted himself in time to claim a disappointing 18th.

Another good race to seventh netted the Cup win again for Mason, in front of six riders from works/championship teams. Palmer headed team-mate Laverty and Gowland, with da Costa back to P11. Camier recovered to P12, after another moment of trouble that saw him slow again, from Kirkham, Peter Hickman, Jessopp, Victor Cox, Tunstall and Harris. In the absence of Guintoli, now overtaken, Camier only lost eight points of his lead with this result.

Clearly, the injuries sustained here by Sylvain Guintoli were going to have an effect on the championship, with the French rider having been the likely challenger to Leon Camier. If his seat is filled by another rider while his leg mends, the substitute would surely be too far behind to make a dent in the deficit unless he blitzes several races on the trot. But this meeting ended up belonging to Leon’s team-mate, James Ellison. The 28-year-old had been second twice in races last year, but second and first here meant not just a first victory but also a jump to second in the table, from fifth. If this makes the championship race into one between Camier and Ellison it will be good for Airwaves Yamaha.

Like Ellison, both Stuart Easton and Simon Andrews had their best ever results in BSB in the second Donington race. Third and second meant that Stuart also overtook Guintoli in the points, with the consistent Glen Richards also homing in. Fifth and third saw Chris Walker make it his best BSB meeting since Silverstone, early in 2007, and he was a popular podium visitor for the first time since Oulton Park, later in that season (of course he raced overseas last year). But on the evidence so far, Camier is doing a good job of emulating his 2008 team-mate with a run to the title. We will see if he can keep it up.

Standings after six races: Camier 117; Ellison 89; Easton 78; Guintoli 77; Richards 76; Harris 60; Walker 49; Mason 46; Lowry 40; Andrews 35; O’Halloran 31.

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