When the 2022 Isle of Man TT finally kicks off in May after a COVID-enforced absence of two years, it’ll come as a huge welcome relief to fans and riders alike.
But, given the way in which Lee Johnston signed off his 2019 campaign, there’s unlikely to be anyone itching to go quite like the Northern Irishman, who was building up to a peak just in time for road racing action grind to a halt thanks to the pandemic.
And while he might have had a highly successful time ‘off’ from the roads, returning to the British Supersport championship for the first time in almost a decade and finding that he’s still more than capable of winning on track as well as on the roads, his misery at missing out on his primary passion has been compounded further by illness.
But, with testing underway not just for his road racing season but another supersport campaign (built off the back of three wins and third in the championship last year), Johnston says that any apprehension he might have had is well and truly behind him – and that the anticipation is already building ahead of May’s first foray onto the roads at the North West 200.
“I think that missing it outweighs anything else,” he told The Race. “Of course there’s going to be a bit of butterfly excitement, but that’s more just wanting to get back into it.
“It’s more that you’ve missed out two years in what would be classed as the prime of your career. If you go from a North West 200 and a TT like I had in 2019 and then don’t get to race for two years, that’s the frustrating part. There’s no worry about going back, just all excitement.
“We’re doing a full British [Supersport] championship again, and someone had asked me which I was concentrating on more, and I hadn’t actually thought about it that way!
“I’ve never done a full British championship and a road racing season, but I’m just going to treat every weekend the same. I think as much about the first round of BSB as I do about coming to the North West or going to the TT.
“Obviously there’s more hype and build up for the roads, but I’m not looking at it that way, just trying to keep everything the same and try to enjoy riding the bike no matter where or what I’m doing.”
While Johnston might have found fresh success on track during the pause in road racing, it hasn’t all been plain sailing. Last year he was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a rare genetic disorder that causes arthritis-like pain in the spine as well as chronic fatigue. It means that when it comes to the roads, his priorities will be slightly different.
He’s been a contender for podiums in the superstock and superbike classes in the past despite his small stature – with the TT acting conversely to most racing series because being taller and heavier is better for controlling a 250bhp machine over the bumps.
But still struggling with the effects of effectively managing a long-term illness while also remaining a professional athlete, it means that his target now will be the supersport class, in which he won his first TT in 2019, and in the newly revamped supertwin race, now opened up to Aprilia’s new RS660 lightweight road bike among others.
“It’s always been bad on the big bikes,” he admitted of his size, “and then when I got ill last year – I’m still nowhere near as physically strong as I was.
“That plan was set in motion, after winning the TT, to concentrate on the 600cc and the stocker [superstock race] more. Now, I’m thinking more about the supersport and supertwin.
“I haven’t even built a full superbike; we’ve got a good superstock bike that we’re going to use for everything.
“I’ll end up with quite a lot of miles on the big bike – but it’ll be the same one, not jumping from a superstock to a superbike. I could surprise myself; I could go to the North West and win a superstock race or be on a superbike podium, but we’re definitely aiming to go and win supersport races.
“When I start testing, I’m going to concentrate more on the big bike and the Aprilia, simply for the fact that when I come back to do British championship testing, I’ll be on my R6 and I’ll get good miles in. I do want to try and get the odd track day in just to keep my eye in – I don’t want to completely discard it.
“I’ve had podiums in the superbike and superstock races at the TT, the North West and the Ulster Grand Prix, so I’m still in with a chance.
“I just don’t want to waste energy at something I’m not physically fit to win in. It sounds a bit selfish, but if I can win supersport and supertwin races, in 10 years’ time no one will care which TT you’ve won – a TT win is a TT win.”
And while Johnston – and similarly aged rivals Dean Harrison and Peter Hickman, who established themselves as the dominant forces at the TT before its hiatus – might have now lost two years of his career thanks to the pandemic, the 33-year-old is adamant of one thing: it won’t necessarily shorten their careers as they set out to return to winning ways.
“Everyone thinks that because two years have been missed, some miraculous new person is going to turn up – but that’s not the way it is,” he laughed.
”The speed is going to be exactly the same. As much as it sounds good saying it for a headline, it’s just going to be the same people at the front.
“We’re all – me, Peter and Dean – the same age, and the last two years and the next three are the best chance we had to win TTs. We’ve had two years of that taken away from us, but honestly that’s life – and if it hadn’t happened, then I wouldn’t have done the British championship and wouldn’t have known that I could be back at the front of that.
“There’s a positive in everything, and that’s just how I’m looking at it. I’ve got a chance to go back there this year because I went back last year. It’s all swings and roundabouts.
“I’ve always had an idea of when I want to race until, if I’m fit and well, and that hasn’t really changed.
“I’m never going to do it just for the sake of riding around – I race because I want to win, not because I want to be at the track.
“I’ll go and do track days if I want the enjoyment of riding my bike, but I’m not putting myself through all the stress and hassle to not win.
“When that comes, I’ll stop, but the same people are going to be at the front and it’s going to be the same action this year.
“The last few years of road racing have been really good for spectators because it’s been competitive, with four or five or six people, and it’s going to be good again this year.”
