Lee Johnston declared himself happy with his TT weekend as he claimed his first two podium finishes in the Isle of Man.

Third place in both the Superstock race and the TT Zero race, fourth and sixth in the two Supersport races and ninth in the opening Superbike event gave the Maguiresbridge rider his best ever week around the legendary course and saw him finish sixth overall in the Joey Dunlop TT Championship Trophy.

“To come to the TT as a privateer outfit and get two podiums and two top six results in the Supersport races, I really have to give full credit to the team,” said Lee. “Okay we weren’t quite there on the Superbike, but to do 130.851mph on a Superstock bike is pretty good. It proves that little people can ride a big bike!” The highlight of Lee’s week was undoubtedly his performance in Monday’s Superstock race, where he covered the 37 mile circuit at an average of over 130 miles per hour on his way to snatching third place. He then repeated his podium on his next outing in the TT Zero race for US manufacturer Victory Motorcycles, giving them their first ever TT podium with a 111.620mph lap. Lee had ridden increasingly fast laps on successive practices throughout the week as he became more familiar with the intricacies of riding the electric motorcycle including energy management and regeneration, and he rode his fastest lap just when it mattered most. “It’s awesome to be back on the podium again,” he said after the race. “Every time we go out, we’re getting faster. Think we had a little bit of battery left, so maybe could have went a bit quicker. Fair play to the Mugen boys, but at the end of the day they have been coming here for three years and in their first year they did nowhere near 110mph, so credit to the whole Victory team, it’s an absolutely awesome job. The bike’s so fun to ride because it’s so small, I really like riding it.” Lee followed up the TT Zero race with the Superbike race but he was unable to better his fourth place finish on the same bike two days earlier, setting the sixth fastest time on lap one and holding on to that position throughout the four lap race.

Lee had high hopes for the final day of the meeting which started with the Lightweight TT.

Lee had set fast times on the bike during practice and looked to be on his way to another podium when he held third after two laps, but mechanical problems ended his challenge.

The final Senior TT race was another frustrating one for Lee. He struggled to match the pace of the front runners and was lying in 15th spot before he was once again forced to retire with reliability issues.