Simon Crafar will be present in the FIXI Crescent Suzuki garage at all of the European World Superbike rounds.

Former 500GP and World Superbike race winner Simon Crafar has joined FIXI Crescent Suzuki in an advisory role, evaluating and assisting Leon Camier and Jules Cluzel in order to extract the best possible performance over a lap.

New Zealand hero Crafar, who has operated his own track day and training programs since 2008, will join the team at the remaining European rounds to provide riding technique recommendations, including track positioning, which he says is key to any possible improvement.

“I’m not trying to coach these riders, because they are way past that,” said Crafar. “I am just an extra set of eyes around the circuit. I try to pick up on areas where I think I can help them improve.

“A rider can sometimes get stuck to a particular line and I can see them from a different angle. I assess their positioning on the track in relation to other guys out there but sometimes it’s as simple as changing the priority of the corners to gain a couple of tenths.

“After watching closely I believe very strongly in the ability of both Leon and Jules, so I am looking forward to helping them and the team achieve the great results I am very sure they are capable of.”

Though familiar and friendly with Camier, Crafar had not met Cluzel prior to the team’s Aragon outing, and said he did not know how his input would be received.

“I was a little nervous about how new French rider Jules Cluzel and his chief technician Les would accept me into their huddle of very private discussions – as I didn’t know them,” Crafar said.

“Both Jules and Les turned out to be very nice guys, very talented at what they do and completely open to my help, welcoming me into their post session debriefs. The whole team has a great atmosphere but is also very professional – I am very proud to be working with them.”

Cluzel heads to this weekend’s Assen WSBK event placed seventh on the standings, while Camier has dropped outside the top ten after being injured and unable to ride at Aragon.