Leon Camier remains on Aspar Honda standby

Leon Camier will remain on standby for the Aspar Honda squad for the foreseeable future in case Nicky Hayden has any additional problems with a long-running right wrist injury.

British rider Camier was sat on the sidelines during last weekend’s Catalunya round in Barcelona, having been contacted out of the blue about possibly replacing Hayden on a production Honda RCV1000R in Spain.

The 2006 world champion was a doubt for the Catalunya clash after undergoing more surgery on a troublesome right wrist injury that has plagued the American since the end of 2011.

Camier’s services weren’t required in Barcelona, with Hayden completing the full weekend and he rode to a creditable 12th.

But the Spanish-based Aspar confirmed that Camier will be kept on standby in the future in case Hayden has a further flare-up with the wrist injury that he first suffered in a four-rider pile-up with Andrea Dovizioso, Valentino Rossi and Alvaro Bautista in the final race of 2011 in Valencia.

Camier, who has been riding in World Superbikes recently as replacement for injured BMW Italia rider Sylvain Barrier, told MCN: “I was surprised to get the call and it would have been amazing to have had a go on the bike. Jumping in midway through the weekend would have been in at the deep end but I was up for it and been ready. I knew Nicky was going to try in the first session and then see from there but I still needed to be ready at any point. It was not ideal because you are nervous wondering in every session if I need to be ready. But was no pressure on me to perform and the team understood what the situation would be.”