David Johnson completes NW200, next stop the TT
David Johnson was the only Australian racing at this year’s North West 200 and was taking part in the event for the first time since 2019.  Davo was also making his debut for Lee Hardy’s Platinum Club Kawasaki Team; so it was quite the undertaking.
Johnson and his new team arrived on the Northern Irish north coast with minimal test time and two very new Ninja ZX-10RRs. But by Saturday evening, they were satisfied with their weeks work and with one eye on the TT; overall, it was a successful week.
After a 14th-place finish in Superbike and 16th in Superstock from the Thursday evening races, progress was made on Saturday. An 8th in the Saturday morning Superbike race was a real highlight, and Davo was well pleased with that result in particular. We caught up with him after it was all over to catch his thoughts…
“We’re getting there. We were working right up until the end today and made some changes for the last Superbike race. In the first Superbike I got 8th and I had been telling everyone that if we got top ten this week it would be like a win for us. There’s been no testing and it’s went really well. We were 8th and could see the next group, so we were competitive and that’s good.”
Davo dropped out in Saturday’s stock race as the bike ‘just didn’t feel right’, but that’s understandable when you consider that his machine hadn’t turned a wheel before Wednesday practice.
“There’s been loads and loads of positives. Superstock didn’t go as good so we need to work out what’s wrong there but we’ll work on it and get it all schmick for the TT.”
The second Superbike race on Saturday didn’t go as smoothly as the first, but that was through no fault of Davo or the bike.
“I got cut-up off the line and then pummelled into the first two corners and that was pretty much the race done. It was what it was, and after that I just kinda road round.”
That final race wasn’t without drama, though. John McGuinness blew up right in front of Davo and covered him in oil.
“I was waving him down, because there was oil all over my visor so I lost loads of time. Poor bugger’s probably still out there somewhere at the side of the track,” he laughed.
All in all, the North West provided some good track time and allowed Johnson and the team to gather data to take to the Isle of Man TT in just over a fortnight’s time, which was the goal coming to the North West…
“It’s been very positive. The Superbike, I’m ready to take that to the TT the way it is. The Superstock bike need a bit of work but we’ll get it right.”
Davo will be attending the BSB round at Donington Park this weekend supporting his mate Billy McConnell but won’t be taking part. The risk of injury is just too great with the Isle of Man immediately after. Davo knows more than most how things can pan out badly, as he missed out in 2022 after fracturing his pelvis at Oulton Park in the lead-up to the TT.
There’ll be much interest in Davo’s progress this year as he arrives on the island as Kawasaki’s official rider. With Dean Harrison jumping ship to Honda after many years on Team Green, many will be interested to see if the Kawasaki can still be competitive.
We won’t have long to wait to find out how things pan out; the TT kicks off with the opening practice session on Monday, May 27th.
If you want to follow the TT this year a subscription can be made to TT 2024 LIVE for $42.99
