Xpress Racing Brands Hatch Superstock report

Xpress Racing
By Carly Rathmell
April 3 2005

21-year-old Leicester based rider Dave Johnson secured a fantastic sixth place in the opening round of the Metzeler National Superstock Championship at Brands Hatch at the weekend.

Riding for the Stoke-on-Trent based team Xpress Racing, Johnson was looking smooth and comfortable on board his Suzuki GSX-R1000.

It has been a great weekend for the team, and they are over the moon with the encouraging results. Johnson had a nightmare season last year in the Superstock championship and, now he has joined forces with Xpress Racing, he is certainly showing what he is really worth.

Qualifying in a comfortable fifth place on the grid, Johnson was eager to get a good start and some healthy championship points under his belt. A great start saw him battling with the front runners, and holding his ground in fifth position. Former British Superbike runner Howie Mainwaring was carving his way through the field, which left the Australian Johnson fighting a fierce battle with Adrian Coates and Ryan Rainey for fifth place.

Johnson was very pleased with his results, saying “It was a great race, and a very tough battle out there on track. Brands Hatch Indy is only a short circuit, and back markers always cause a problem. I met a few in the wrong place on the circuit and I couldn’t get past them. I’m really happy with my results, and it’s a very positive start to the season for me. Many thanks to all my sponsors - Drayton Croft Motorcycles, Teng Tools and MRS. I can only see this weekend as a very encouraging start to the season. I felt very happy out there. I was having a few tyre problems towards the end, but nothing too major. I cant wait to get to Thruxton now.”

Nigel Broomhall, Team Manager, was very impressed with Johnson’s performance. “The whole team are proud of Dave’s performance today, and it has given us a lot of encouragement for the season. It’s a very tough class out there, and Dave really lived up to all our expectations. He’s a very good rider and extremely easy to work with. We have a few small issues that we will be changing before Thruxton, but apart from that we are assured of some strong results in the remaining races. You never quite know what will happen at the first race meeting, and I’m very glad that the weekend passed without any serious glitches.”

Race results:
1 Tinsley, Buildbase/Knotts Suzuki, 18:35.317
2 Mainwaring, Motrac Suzuki, + 4.278
3 Fitzpatrick, Comptech Graves Yamaha, + 4.846
4 Jackson, Krystal Yamaha, + 5.175
5 Coates, TAS Suzuki, + 7.047
6 Johnson, X-Press/Drayton Croft Suzuki, + 7.516
7 Rainey, Image Yamaha, + 7.790
8 Young, Paul Young Racing, + 9.331
9 Reilly, TW2/MSS Kawasaki, + 9.494
10 Bridewell, Vivaldi Racing, + 1 lap

Next round - Thruxton, Andover - 10th April