SIXTH AT SNETTERTON
11 July 2005 - Xpress Racing

It was a mixed weekend for 22-year-old Hinckley based rider Dave Johnson riding for Xpress Racing at the extremely hot Snetterton Circuit. Johnson only managed to qualify his Drayton Croft/Xpress Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 K5 in 14th place but despite that he rode an impressive and smooth race to bag a sixth place.

Johnson made an impressive start and was soon locked in a six-way battle for third place with the positions changing on each lap. The hot weather conditions made the track abrasion pretty slippery and with Snetterton being one of the fastest circuits in the country it made it hard to stay with the faster, lighter riders.

Qualifying was frantic with just over a second separating the top 16 riders on the grid. It was essential that Johnson made a good start and worked his way through the pack, which is just what he did. Race leader Adrian Coates had already made a break by the time Johnson had caught up the freight train for third position but he got his head down and worked his way through the pack.

Commenting Johnson said ''I knew it would be fairly difficult at this circuit as it''s so fast and I knew everything would be really close. I didn''t have the best qualifying session and left myself with a fair bit of work to do in the race but as soon as the lights changed I just got my head down and I was on a mission. I didn''t want to crash again and the pace was pretty hot, I was locked in a tight battle with a whole host of riders and thankfully managed to get myself up to sixth which I''m happy with. We''ve got a fairly big break now until the next round at Silverstone so it will give me time to refresh and hopefully I''ll be back on the podium there.''

Team Principle Nigel Broomhall added ''This has been a tough weekend for David. Struggling to find that extra couple of tenths during qualifying. However, it was incredibly close at the front of the grid and with David getting a good start we collected some well deserved Championship Points. Silverstone is a good circuit for David, so we are looking forward very much to the next round and to put David back on the podium.''

Race Result

Coates
Bridewell
Zanotti
Rainey
Young
JOHNSON
Fitzpatrick
Shand
Ingram
Hutchinson

Championship Standings

Young 139

Jackson 100

Coates 93

Fitzpatrick 85

Tinsley 76

Rainey 76

Bridewell 71

Johnson 63

Shand 58

www.xpressracing.co.uk

More News
  For July 2005
  From Xpress Racing
  For Superstock
  Biker247.com Home Page