By Carly Rathmell
June 6 2005

22-year-old Hinckley based rider Dave Johnson took another impressive podium at the sixth round of the Metzeler Superstock Championship at Croft at the weekend. Riding on board his Suzuki GSX-R1000 for Stoke based Xpress Racing, he scooped 16 points for his championship bid, and took himself to seventh in the overall standings, 14 points off fourth position.

In front of massive crowds at Croft Circuit - the biggest all year - Johnson was keen to impress and show what he is made of. Qualifying in a confident second position on the grid, he was eager to bag a podium result. Gaining the hole-shot in the race, he looked comfortable as he led the pack. Young made a move on him, but Johnson was keeping the fellow Australian closely in his sights.

A crash on lap four forced the safety car to come out and, as the pack bunched together, allowing Coates to make a swift move on him as the car pulled into the pits. Johnson rode an extremely smooth and consistent race and happily took the third position. His Suzuki is now two years old, and he was battling with Coates and Young who are both on brand new bikes for the year, and allowed them to have a slight extra power advantage.

Commenting, he said, “It has been a good weekend in general. I had a few problems to contend with. The weather throughout the whole weekend was very mixed and the race, although wasn’t wet, was still very damp and the track was extremely slippery. I was having a few problems with my visor steaming up throughout the race, and that is something I need to get sorted before we go to Knockhill in a couple of weeks time. Generally, though, I am very happy with the result, and I’ve gained some strong points from the weekend, more than what I did from Mondello.”

Team Manager Nigel Broomhall was content with the result, saying, “It’s good that Dave is getting consistent results, and it helps him with his championship hopes. It’s good to once again see him on the podium, and hopefully soon we will see him on the top step. He rode a very good and hard race, and Dave and Paul Young had gained a slight advantage when the safety car was dispersed, so it was a little frustrating to see him finish third. But that’s racing and now we’re looking forward to Knockhill on the 26th June.”

Race result:
1 Paul Young, Paul Young Racing Yamaha
2 Adrian Coates, TAS Suzuki
3 Dave Johnson, Xpress Racing/Drayton Croft Suzuki
4 Ollie Bridewell, Vivaldi Kawasaki
5 Craig Fitzpatrick, Comptech Graves Yamaha

Championship standings:
1 Young 103
2 Jackson 89
3 Tinsley 76
4 Coates 67
5 Fitzpatrick 60
6 Rainey 55
7 Johnson 53
8 Bridewell 40