Lee Johnston opened his 2023 British Supersport Championship (BSSP) campaign with a composed victory in the first race of the season at Silverstone.

The experienced racer produced a controlled performance on the Ashcourt Racing Yamaha to win from pole position, Johnston not putting a foot wrong over the curtailed 17 lap race to keep Luke Stapleford at bay.

The race was red flagged with little more than half of the final lap remaining following an accident involving Triumph’s Eugene McManus - who had been running seventh - as he was lapping True Heroes Racing Leon Wilton.

With the top three from last year’s British Supersport Championship moving onto pastures new in 2023, Johnston comes into the new season as the highest-placed returnee, albeit one without a win since 2021.

However, the 43-year old announced his title credentials from the off with pole position, which he converted into an early lead over fellow front row starter Stapleford on the Profile Racing Kawasaki.

While scuffles behind allowed the pair to open up a sizable margin over the chasing pack early on, Johnston and Stapleford were rarely separated by more than a few tenths.

However, Stapleford could not pressure Johnston into a mistake, with his best chance to snatch the lead coming on lap five with a lunge at Maggotts that his rival calmly rebuffed into the following Becketts right-hander.

While he might have considered a big push for victory on the final lap, any such hopes were scuppered by the red flag, which confirmed Johnston for his first BSSP win since Donington Park in 2021.

Behind Stapleford, Tom Booth-Amos completed the podium on the Gearlink Kawasaki, the ex-Moto3 World Championship rider showing strong pace to catch up in the closing stages after contact early on dropped him to fifth at one stage.

Australian Tom Toparis followed a distant fourth on the Macadam Yamaha, while Jamie Perrin was fifth on the Suzuki GSX-R750, the machine - sold in the United States but not in Europe - making its debut in a BSSP capacity.

Oxford Products Racing’s Ben Currie rounded out the top six on the best of the Ducati Panigale V2s.

Beyond McManus, other high-profile casualties included Jaimie van Sikkelerus and Rhys Irwin after a tangle on lap one, plus Eunan McGlinchey on lap four.

2023 BSSP Silverstone | Rd 1 | Race 1 Results

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