Lee Johnston made it two wins from two at Saturday’s Ulster Grand Prix when he took the opening Supersport race by 0.039s after a race long battle with William Dunlop.

The duo exchanged places throughout the six lap race and it looked like Dunlop had done enough to win but Johnston squeezed up the inside at Tournagrough on his East Coast Construction/Burdens Triumph and just managed to hold Dunlop off as they flashed across the line.

“I don’t know what to say,” said Johnston afterwards. “We made a few changes with the bike before the race and we went in the right direction as it was absolutely mint. I had a nice battle with William and it’s nice to get one over him.”

It was Johnston who led at the end of the opening lap from Dunlop, Glenn Irwin, Bruce Anstey and Ian Hutchinson but two of the fancied runners were out before the start, Conor Cummins pulling off the line after the warm up lap and Keith Amor not even making it out onto the track due to an oil leak.

Second time around Johnston still led but Irwin had relegated Dunlop to third with Anstey, Hutchinson and Dean Harrison in hot pursuit. By lap four though, the front two had pulled a gap and whilst there was only 0.1s between Johnston and Dunlop, they were now a second and a half clear of Irwin, Hutchinson and Anstey who were now disputing the final podium spot. Harrison had retired from the race on the Mar-Train Racing Yamaha as had Michael Dunlop.

The fifth lap saw Dunlop hit the front along the Flying Kilo only for Johnston to retaliate through Deer’s Leap and this set the tone for a final lap showdown. Dunlop edged away on the final lap but Johnston wasn’t to be outdone and he squeezed through at Tournagrough on the final lap.

With a final lap of 128.913mph, another new lap record, he held on for his second win of the day with Dunlop in second and Irwin taking a brilliant third after getting the better of road race veterans Anstey and Hutchinson.

Further back, Peter Hickman took an excellent sixth on the Trooper MV Agusta after a torrid practice, with Dan Kneen seventh and Seamus Elliott, Robert Kennedy and James Cowton completing the top ten.

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