At the extremely hot Brands Hatch the East Coast Racing riders Lee Johnston and Gary Johnson had two very solid results in their first race of the season on the Brands Indy Circuit, Lee secured a stunning fourth place and Gary 10^th position.

The two riders suffered their fair share of problems over the weekend but the young Irishman Johnston managed to put the East Coast Racing Honda in third place on the grid in qualifying yesterday, his highest ever qualifying position. Despite a steady start the feisty rider settled into a rhythm during the short 18-lap race and made a confident pass on Honda mounted Steve Plater for fourth place on lap 17 into the first corner Paddock Hill Bend. Despite all his efforts he was unable to make a pass on third placed man Jack Kennedy and finished only 0.1 behind him as the chequered flag was shown.

He said "I was pacing myself far too much at the start of the race and trying to conserve my tyres so I could give it a big push at the end. Sadly I saved too much in reserve and wasn't able to make a pass on Jack or Youngy. Overall though it's the first race out the way, it's solid points in the bag and I can't complain. I think the only thing we might be changing tomorrow will be the tyre compound. I'm looking forward to a longer race tomorrow and getting a better result."

Gary Johnson had some problems during practice with bike set up but managed to be second fastest in morning warm up and he was feeling confident for the afternoon race. Making some changes and reverting back to some settings they used at the start of the weekend Gary gained a stunning start from 17^th position on the grid and was sitting in 10^thplace after the opening lap. He became very much a Triumph sandwich over the race and swapped between ninth and tenth position for the whole 18-laps, finally securing 10 ^thplace.

Commenting he said "After my mistake in qualifying I knew I had a lot of work to do from 17^th on the grid. I had to ensure of a good start and luckily that's what I managed to get. It was very bunched up into the first two corners but I just had to hope for the best and stick to my line. Thankfully it worked and I was tenth after the first lap, I was locked in a pretty tight battle and kept dipping into a top ten place. I was struggling with the power on the exit to the corners and was loosing time on the riders in front but we're moving in the right direction and hope I'll be able to get a better result tomorrow."

Second Race

In front of a packed crowd in the baking sunshine at Brands Hatch, the East Coast Racing riders of Lee Johnston and Gary Johnson had another strong race today. After finishing in fourth and 10^th place yesterday the pairing were unable to better their results with Lee gaining sixth place and Gary in 11^th place in the 26-lap Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Race today.

The grid positions were set by their lap times from yesterday, which placed Lee on a row further back in seventh place but Gary gained two places and was in 15^th on the starting grid. 22-year-old Lee struggled off the start loosing a number of places and was in 11^th place after the first lap. Despite his valiant efforts to get back through the pack setting the fastest lap time of 47.000 on lap 10 the young Irishman was unable to make a pass and stay with the leading bunch.

He said "I'm sure I must sit with my eyes closed on the grid when the lights go out as my starts are horrendous. I lost so many places into the first turn and just left myself with loads of work to do. I got my head down but because I was pushing so hard I was wearing my tyres out faster and therefore when I finally managed to get on the back of the leading bunch I was unable to make a solid pass and just lost time on them. I'm a bit gutted with my result but I've had two pretty solid results this weekend and fifth in the points standings. The East Coast Racing team have been brilliant I can't thank them enough for all their hard work. I'd like to get somewhere to try and practice my starts as they let me down this weekend. I can't wait to get to Oulton Park though next weekend."

Gary Johnson was in 15^th on the grid and unlike his fellow team-mate got a good start and was ninth after the opening lap. He once again became sandwiched between the Triumphs throughout the 26-lap race and was dicing once again for a top ten place, swapping between ninth and twelfth, eventually taking 11^th place.

Gary commented "I'm really happy with how the weekend has gone for us as I wasn't quite sure what to expect from it all. It's been nearly six years since I've raced in the Supersport Championship so it's been a big change for me but I'm really enjoying it. Those boys out there are very quick so I'm glad I've been able to start the season with two solid results and we've made huge steps forward with the bike and my riding style since arriving on Friday. We made a few changes before warm up this morning but they didn't work so we changed it back to how we had it yesterday. I nearly had a big moment into Druids early on in the race which lost me time but once I settled down I was having a good battle with the riders around me. I'd like to thank all my crew at the East Coast Racing team for the hours they have put in this weekend and hope things will just keep improving as the season progresses."

Team Manager Phil Reed said "I'm really pleased with Lee and Gary this weekend it's been a great start to the season for us. They have both worked very hard this weekend and both have learnt a lot since we got here. We've had no major problems this weekends just small issues which we have managed to sort out reasonably quickly. We're looking forward to getting to Oulton Park next weekend and hope we can improve on our results."