Exciting road racing talent Lee Johnston is lining up his debut at the Macau Grand Prix in November.

Johnston, who has excelled this season, was back on the top step again at the penultimate round of the Adelaide Masters series at Mondello Park at the weekend.

Originally from Maguiresbridge in Co Fermanagh but now based in Hull, Johnston won the feature race at the Co Kildare circuit despite feeling the effects of a huge crash on Saturday.

He went down hard on the Millsport Racing Ducati Panigale, but was able to take his place on the grid for Sunday’s races even though he was more than a little worse for wear.

And the decision paid off as the former British Supersport contender walked away with the big prize of the day after defeating American ace PJ Jacobsen, who was riding for Tyco Suzuki, in the feature Adelaide Masters race.

Johnston has been a sensation this year after he joined respected Ballymoney road racing outfit Millsport Racing.

He finished on the rostrum in the runner-up spot behind Alastair Seeley in the first Superstock race at the North West 200 in May.

Johnston also impressed on his TT debut, but it was at the Ulster GP where he really marked himself out as a potential star on the roads.

He won the National and Challenge races at the Dundrod 150 meeting before finishing third behind William Dunlop and Bruce Anstey on the Millsport Honda in the opening Supersport race.

It was an exceptional result on his debut at Dundrod and it is clear Johnston has what it takes to mix it at the highest level at the international road race meetings.

Now, the 28-year-old is preparing for another first in his career as he prepares to take on the unique challenge of the Macau Grand Prix.

“I think Macau is pretty much sorted with the Millsport Ducati so it’s going to be a new experience for me,” he said. “It’s dangerous over there and I’ll be taking it steady and just learning the place.

“Next year I might be doing Superstock but I’m not sure at the moment if it will be in the UK or in the European series,” he added.

“I’ll also be going back to the three big road races as well – that’s the plan anyway but you never take anything for granted because I could end up with nothing next year, but hopefully we’ll be fine.”

Reflecting on the latest Adelaide Masters round, Johnston said he hoped to continue to put pressure on Brian McCormack in the race to be crowned overall champion at Mondello Park next month.

“I had a bit of a big off on Saturday and nearly wrecked myself. I hurt my knee and left myself battered up,” he said.

“I was feeling sore and I could’ve done without it, but it’s really our first crash this season and I’ve been pretty lucky to be honest.

“We lost quite a few points to Brian at the start of the series but I’ve been making up ground and we’ll see how it goes at the last round.”



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