Lee Johnston (East Coast/Burdens BMW) leads Michael Rutter (Penz13.com BMW) at Frohburg

Lee Johnston’s stellar season continued as the Fermanagh rider won the Joey Dunlop Open Superbike race at Frohburg in Germany on Sunday.

Johnston, victorious in the Superstock race at the North West 200 this year and a hat-trick winner at the Ulster Grand Prix, had qualified in sixth place and finished fifth in the first IRRC Superbike race behind Lincolnshire’s Gary Johnson, with Michael Rutter on the Penz13.com Bathams BMW making it onto the podium in third place.

The race was won by Dutch rider Johan Fredriks (BMW) from Belgium’s Sebastien Le Grelle, also BMW mounted.

Maguiresbridge man Johnston upped the ante in the second race to clinch the Joey Dunlop silverware after holding off a determined Rutter, with less than half a second between them at the finish.

Le Grelle claimed the final rostrum place ahead of Fredriks with Didier Grams in fifth.

Fredriks and Grams shared the honours in the Open Superbike races, taking a win apiece, with Johnston twice finishing fifth.

The event was the final round of the 2015 International Road Racing Championship.

Ballymoney’s Michael Dunlop won the feature Joey Dunlop race last year on the Penz13.com BMW but the 11-times Isle of Man TT winner did not return to Germany to defend his title.

Kyle White