Isle of Man TT contender Lee Johnston confirms racing return in 2024 after life-threatening crash at North West 200

The Fermanagh native will ride Honda Fireblade machinery in the Superbike and Superstock classes and an Aprilia Supertwin for the Ashcourt Racing team. Johnston has yet to confirm his choice of machine for the Supersport class.

Last year, the 34-year-old suffered life-threatening injuries in a crash during qualifying at the North West 200.

Johnston said: “It’s never good to miss a year at the TT, but even more so when the weather was as good as it was last year.

“The amount of track time and the sheer number of laps completed saw the game move on considerably. You’ve got to do 130mph+ now to win a Supersport race which is unreal.

“I’m being realistic about it. This will be somewhat of a rebuilding year but I can’t wait to get back on my bike at the TT.

“Obviously I want to do as well as possible, particularly in the Supersport and Supertwin races, but I want to enjoy it as well.”

Johnston has switched from BMW power to Honda for the big bike classes and will also ride a new Supersport bike this season in a change from his previous Yamaha R6.

“I’ve got to let the two weeks come to me and not get frustrated,” continued Johnston, who clinched his maiden TT victory in the Supersport category in 2019.

“Everyone else will be quicker than me at the beginning of the fortnight as I’ve obviously missed a lot of track time, not just at the TT but everywhere else too, and we haven’t got any data to go on with the Hondas or the Supersport bike.

“We’ll be behind the eight-ball a bit to begin with but that’s why we’ll be testing as much as possible before the TT gets underway.

“Racers aren’t known for their patience but I’m old enough to know there’s nothing to gain by getting frustrated.

“We’ll work our way methodically through the process and set realistic goals. Anything else will be a bonus.”

Johnston will also return to the British Supersport Championship, which gets under way in April.

He has faced a long road to recovery and admits he still has some way to go yet to achieve 100 percent fitness.

“I’d say I’m at about 80 percent fitness right now. That’s amazing considering where I was and I’m feeling really good,” he said.

“Of course, some days are worse than others but I’m feeling positive and am going to try and win some races in 2024.

“After the injuries I received last year, many people assumed I’d be quitting but it’s not for them to say that as they don’t know what racing means to me, and one thing I learnt from watching from the sofa last year is that I’m not done with racing yet. There’s a lot of life and a lot of races in me yet.”

Johnston was leading the British Supersport Championship last year before his crash at the North West 200.

He finished third and fourth overall in the standings in 2021 and 2022 respectively but revealed he still needs some extra financial support to complete a full campaign in the series this year.

“I definitely want to try and do the full British Championship if I can,” he said.

“Financially, we’re not quite there yet and still need some backing to make it happen, but I want to do it for sure. 2021 and 2022 went well and so did the beginning of last year, so I want to challenge for the title again.”