Perfect conditions during Thursday’s second Supertwin qualifying session at the North West 200 saw ‘The General’ Lee Johnston claim pole position with a speed of 107.853mph, comfortably quicker than the existing lap record of 102.238mph
Johnston, riding the East Coast Construction/Pirtek Kawasaki, took control in the second half of the session, deposing Ivan Lintin and long time front runner Keith Amor, and it was the latter who set the second fastest time, the comeback man just 1.5s slower on the KMR Kawasaki.
Lintin, who briefly held the top spot, completes the front row on the McKinstry Racing Kawasaki with a lap of 107.258mph as he looks to add a NW200 victory to the one he took at last year’s Ulster Grand Prix.
Fourth quickest was Michael Dunlop, the 25-year old jumping straight into the top four after skipping Tuesday’s session and he was just ahead of impressive youngster James Cowton, the duo both comfortably lapping in excess of 106mph.
Next up on the overall times will be KMR team-mates Jeremy McWilliams and Ryan Farquhar, the latter one of the few riders not to lap any quicker as he struggled with a bike running 1000rpm down on its optimum, with Martin jessopp, having his first ride in the class in a good eighth.
Newcomer Connor Behan and Dean Harrison complete the top ten with James Hillier, none the worse for a spill at Ballysally Roundabout on Tuesday, in eleventh.
Top ten lap speeds
1 Lee Johnston 107.853mph
2 Keith Amor 107.356
3 Ivan Lintin 107.258
4 Michael Dunlop 106.651
5 James Cowton 106.393
6 Jeremy McWilliams 106.206
7 Ryan Farquhar 106.066
8 Martin Jessopp 106.045
9 Connor Behan 106.040
10 Dean Harrison 105.253
