'I've done what I came to do' says newly crowned Ulster Superbike champion Jonny Campbell

The 21-year-old finished third in the first race and fourth in the second to wrap up the championship at the penultimate round on the Magic Bullet Yamaha R1.

It was a double celebration for Campbell, who passed his driving test on Friday, when he admitted he felt more nervous ahead of the examination than he does when he’s sitting on the grid waiting for a race to start.

“I was more nervous doing my test than I am waiting for the red lights to go and doing 170mph for the next 10 laps,” said Campbell. “But at least it’s done and dusted.

“It was nice to do that and then win the championship.

“At the start of the year at the press launch before the first round I said it would be nice to walk away with two wins to start off.

“I think that’s what I did and I didn’t want to sound big-headed, but I said what I said, and I’ve done what I came to do. I haven’t been outside the top three all year and we have eight wins.

“For those last races it was about winning the championship and not about wanting to win the races.

“Some of the DNFs we had were outside our control, with the weather being bad or when I wasn’t allowed out to race at Kirkistown when they closed the gate on me and said I was late; that was at the first race of the ‘Big 3 Series’.

“But that didn’t really get me down and we’re here now, so we’re going home with a big smile on our face.”

Campbell narrowly missed out on becoming the youngest Ulster Superbike champion, a record that belongs to Castledawson’s Nico Mawhinney.

“Nico Mawhinney won the title when he was 20,” he said. I was speaking to him at the North West 200 and he was asking me how old I was, so he was happy that he’d still be the youngest winner.

“I missed out by about five months and it would have been nice to be the youngest winner, but Nico still has it.”