Lee Johnston took a thrilling Supersport race this victory this evening at the International North West 200 with a four-rider battle on the final lap seeing Alastair Seeley crash out at the Juniper chicane with the chequered flag in sight.

Johnston and Seeley battled for the race win throughout along with James Hillier (Quattro Plant Wicked Coatings Kawasaki) and Dean Harrison (Silicone Engineering Kawasaki) with Paul Jordan also joining them until he was cruelly forced to retire on the penultimate lap.

That left the remaining four to dispute the win and although Seeley nosed ahead – as he so often does – along the coast road he ran a bit wide on the way into the Juniper chicane and clipped the grass on the way out, subsequently highsiding out of the action.

Johnston and his Ashcourt Racing Yamaha team swept to the win – his fourth NW200 win in total – with Harrison taking second from Hillier but the quartet had never been more than a few feet apart throughout the race with Hillier utilising the slipstream brilliantly at times to go from fourth to first on the high speed run to University.

At times they were four abreast as positions constantly changed and Jordan rode superbly on his Yamaha to close right in on them just after half race distance. However, he lost ground at York Corner on the fifth lap and pulled in to retire shortly afterwards at the Mill Road roundabout.

Further back, Michael Dunlop (MD Racing Honda) had a lonely ride into fifth whilst Jamie Coward (Prez Racing Yamaha) came out on top of a three-way battle for what turned out to be sixth, Ian Hutchinson (Honda Racing) and Davey Todd (Milenco by Padgetts Motorcycles Honda) following him over the line.

Despite a ten-second penalty for overshooting a chicane, Gary Johnson took eighth with Craig Neve and Michael Sweeney riding well for ninth and tenth respectively.

Peter Hickman was forced to retire at Metropole on the opening lap after a stone went through his radiator with Conor Cummins and Derek McGee also forced to retire.

Tides Supersport race one - conditions dry

1 SSP 13 Lee JOHNSTON Yamaha - Ashcourt Racing a 6 27:45.100 116.058 4:37.007 116.575 6
2 SSP 2 Dean HARRISON Kawasaki - Silicone Engineering Racing a 6 27:45.830 0.730 116.007 4:37.107 116.533 6
3 SSP 37 James HILLIER Kawasaki - Quattro Plant Wicked Coatings a 6 27:46.749 1.649 115.943 4:37.778 116.251 6
4 SSP 3 Michael DUNLOP Honda - MD Racing a 6 28:10.471 25.371 114.316 4:38.495 115.952 2
5 SSP 36 Jamie COWARD Yamaha - PreZ Racing a 6 28:11.932 26.832 114.217 4:40.783 115.007 6
6 SSP 4 Ian HUTCHINSON Honda - Honda Racing a 6 28:12.858 27.758 114.155 4:41.894 114.554 3
7 SSP 74 Davey TODD Honda - Milenco by Padgett's Motorcycles a 6 28:13.032 27.932 114.143 4:40.441 115.147 3
8 SSP 7 Gary JOHNSON Triumph - RAF Regular & Reserves a 6 28:29.848 44.748 113.021 4:41.445 114.736 4
9 SSP 65 Michael SWEENEY Yamaha - MJR Racing a 5 23:45.453 1 Lap 112.916 4:45.484 113.113 2
10 SSP 14 Daley MATHISON Yamaha - WH Racing with Dynobike a 5 23:55.422 1 Lap 112.131 4:46.174 112.840 5
11 SSP 18 Christian ELKIN Yamaha - Bob Wylie Racing a 5 23:55.965 1 Lap 112.089 4:46.290 112.795 5
12 SSP 22 Horst SAIGER Yamaha - Saiger Racing a 5 23:56.382 1 Lap 112.057 4:46.493 112.715 5
13 SSP 15 Nathan HARRISON Suzuki - Chris Preston/DTHC.co.uk a 5 24:00.254 1 Lap 111.755 4:46.679 112.642 3
14 SSP 199 Pierre Yves BIAN Yamaha - Optimark Road Racing a 5 24:04.883 1 Lap 111.397 4:47.516 112.314 3
15 SSP 182 Xavier DENIS Honda - Optimark Road Racing b 5 24:15.233 1 Lap 110.605 4:50.851 111.026 5
16 SSP 27 Joseph LOUGHLIN Kawasaki - G2-Tech b 5 24:15.893 1 Lap 110.555 4:51.066 110.944 5
17 SSP 11 Dominic HERBERTSON Kawasaki - Davies M/sport/Belgrave Motor b 5 24:17.702 1 Lap 110.418 4:49.222 111.651 4
18 SSP 77 Tom WEEDEN Yamaha - Burrows Eng/RK Racing b 5 24:18.664 1 Lap 110.345 4:49.003 111.736 4
19 SSP 6 Victor LOPEZ Yamaha - Martimotos Racing b 5 24:21.031 1 Lap 110.166 4:50.269 111.249 5
20 SSP 80 Darren COOPER Kawasaki - JMC b 5 24:23.618 1 Lap 109.971 4:51.740 110.688 2
21 SSP 25 Matthew REES Kawasaki - Rees Racing b 5 24:29.021 1 Lap 109.567 4:53.413 110.056 2
22 SSP 48 Francesco CURINGA Honda - Bemar Racing Team b 5 24:31.282 1 Lap 109.398 4:53.631 109.975 3
23 SSP 119 Kris DUNCAN Kawasaki - Turriff Caravans/JD Autobody b 5 24:41.668 1 Lap 108.632 4:54.175 109.771 5
24 SSP 59 Darryl TWEED Honda - DH Racing b 5 24:41.969 1 Lap 108.610 4:56.515 108.905 4
25 SSP 5 Marty LENNON Suzuki - Lynch b 5 24:45.744 1 Lap 108.334 4:56.571 108.885 2
26 SSP 138 Paul WILLIAMS Yamaha - Slipscreens b 5 24:52.090 1 Lap 107.873 4:57.805 108.433 3
27 SSP 46 Ryan GIBSON Kawasaki - JMC / Gibson Motors b 5 25:47.945 1 Lap 103.980 5:06.712 105.284 5
28 SSP 16 Michael REES Kawasaki - Rapid/MICT/GT Superbikes b 5 25:50.677 1 Lap 103.797 5:09.417 104.364 4
29 SSP 66 Alan JOHNSTON Kawasaki b 5 25:50.846 1 Lap 103.786 5:08.386 104.713 5
30 SSP 107 David MURPHY Suzuki - Red Line Road Racing b 5 25:51.317 1 Lap 103.754 5:09.907 104.199 4
31 SSP 43 Stephen DEGNAN Kawasaki b 5 26:14.913 1 Lap 102.200 5:12.475 103.343 2
32 SSP 70 Paul MACKEY Kawasaki - Elite Cranes Ltd b 5 26:15.536 1 Lap 102.160 5:14.117 102.802 2
33 SSP 38 Ramon BASOMBA Yamaha - Martimotos Racing b 5 26:15.998 1 Lap 102.130 5:13.033 103.158 4
Not Classified
DNF SSP 34 Alastair SEELEY Yamaha - EHA Racing a 5 23:08.210 115.945 4:37.516 116.361 2
DNF SSP 9 Craig NEVE Kawasaki - JK Construction a 5 23:35.874 113.680 4:42.586 114.273 3
DNF SSP 12 Paul JORDAN Yamaha - Paul Jordan Racing a 4 18:31.562 115.751 4:37.044 116.559 2
DNF SSP 10 Conor CUMMINS Honda - Milenco by Padgett's Motorcycles a 2 9:20.685 114.289 4:40.633 115.068 2
DNF SSP 86 Derek McGEE Kawasaki - B&W/Diamond Edge Cutting a 2 9:46.366 109.283 4:59.723 107.739 2
Fastest Lap
SSP 13 Lee JOHNSTON Yamaha - Ashcourt Racing 4:37.007 116.575 6