TT winner Gary Johnson battles to sixth on Samsung Honda debut
Isle of Man TT winner Gary Johnson fought back from a disappointing qualifying position to take sixth in the first round of the 2012 National Superstock Championship.
Making his debut for the Samsung Honda team at Brands Hatch on Monday, Johnson battled his way from 20th to sixth in atrocious conditions.
As the race unfolded Johnson, from Broughton near Brigg, made his way through the midfielders until he reached sixth position on lap 19 of 22.
He said:
“I didn’t get the best of starts and then was held up by two crashes on the first lap, but then set about catching up. I was stuck behind Conor Cummins for a while, but once I got past him I made the break and began to reel in the group ahead.”
“I was too far behind to make any impact and finished in sixth place.”
“I thought I rode a good race, if I had been further up the field at the start I could have stayed with the leaders but we made a mistake with the tyre choice in qualifying and lost out.”
Johnson will miss the next round at Thruxton because he is riding for the Honda TT Legends team at Magny Cours in France in the first round of the World Endurance Championship.
As reserve rider he will take part in qualifying to be ready in case one of the other three team members is unable to take part in the race.