Lee Johnston secured a hat-trick of podium finishes at the North West 200, with third place finishes in two Supersport races and a third and a fourth in the Superbike races.
Lee went into the event in confident mood and looking to add to his North West victory tally, and he came close in the opening Supersport race on Thursday evening. 
The Maguiresbridge rider climbed as high as second in the early stages, but ultimately had to give second best to Alastair Seeley and James Hillier as he came home third. He followed that with a seventh place finish in the Superstock race.
Blue skies welcomed the riders on Saturday morning, and an unbroken day’s racing started with the second Supersport race. 
After securing a qualifying position that was not representative of the speed he demonstrated in many of the practice sessions, Lee found himself outside the top ten riders on the opening lap of the race.
 He quickly showed his speed however as he pushed his way through the pack, surging into the lead. Alastair Seeley was always going to difficult to displace however, and the North West 200 record breaker got his bike back in front and started to pull clear of the chasing riders. 
There was a tight battle for the remainder of the podium positions and Lee eventually crossed the line in third spot behind James Hillier in a repeat of the finishing positions from Thursday’s Supersport event.
The first Superbike race of the day saw Lee in competitive action on board the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 for the first time. 
From a qualifying position of tenth, he once again picked his way through the field to lie second behind runaway leader Glenn Irwin. It looked as though Lee would hold on to the runners up spot, but an error going into the last chicane saw him fall to fourth. 
“We came from tenth on the grid right up into second place on the last lap but after some rider error we finished fourth!” explained Lee. 
“I just out braked myself coming into Juniper Hill and lost the spot, otherwise we’d have taken second.”
Lee was back on board his Padgett’s Honda for the following Superstock race, but it was a disappointing outing. The first lap saw him once again at the bottom end of the top ten, but this time his expected charge did not materialise. 
The Maguiresbridge man had managed to crack the windshield on his Honda with his helmet, and unable to make progress in safety he pulled into the pits.
The final Superbike race of the meeting provided Lee with his last chance of a win, but race favourite Glen Irwin was in commanding form as he raced clear at the front. No one could live with the Carrickfergus rider as he cruised to a Superbike double. Michael Dunlop held second for much of the race with Lee fighting off challenge after challenge to maintain third. 
As Dunlop’s tyre started to deteriorate on the closing lap Lee closed to within a second of the TYCO BMW man, but Dunlop held on to cross the line in second with Lee third.
 “We came from a little way back into third place,” recalled Lee. 
“I almost took second place on the final lap, but came home third, which I’m really happy about. I’m feeling confident and good ahead of the TT and now just can’t wait to get going!”
Lee’s focus has already turned to the Isle of Man TT races where he will be hoping to secure his first race victory at the world’s most famous road race. 
The TT takes place from May 26 until June 8.