VOL. 51 ISSUE 22 JUNE 3, 2014 P23
Asked if he was prepared to go
straight to the top class, he said: "If
I had the right bike, yes. I feel I'm big
enough and strong enough to hold
the bike. If I was going in there to
ride on an Open bike that doesn't
have a chance of the top five then I
wouldn't do it. But if I was going in
on a decent bike, then I would.
"The first year I'd probably wob-
ble around, but I feel I would take
to it, and learn, but I don't think it's
going to happen, so it'll be Moto2
most probably."
Michael Scott
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
Will Jack Miller jump straight from Moto3 to MotoGP?
SUPERSPORT
TT THRILLER TO
JOHNSON
S
miths Triumph's Gary John-
son came out on top in an
exciting Supersport race at the
Isle of Man, finishing just 1.5
seconds clear of Valvoline Rac-
ing/Padgetts Honda's Bruce An-
stey to take the second TT win of
his career on Monday, June 2.
Johnson grabbed the lead on
the opening lap, but the gap to
Anstey constantly fluctuated. So
although the difference was a
mere .011 of a second at Cronk-
ny-Mona on the final lap, John-
son grabbed the win to give the
British manufacturer its first win
in over 10 years. The last man to
ride a Triumph to victory was An-
stey in the same race in 2003.
Rounding out the podium was
Michael Dunlop, who like Anstey
was aboard a Honda.
"I think this victory means
more to me than the first and the
whole Smiths Triumph team have
worked so hard," Johnson said.
"With the Metzeler tires as well,
we had a race-winning combina-
tion and having been strong in
practice, we were able to do the
same in the race and convert it
all into the race win. It was tricky
over the Mountain with the wet
roads and I didn't gel with the
conditions up there, but I went
hard on the lower part of the
course and we got the job done.
Full credit to the team, John Trig-
ger gave us some great engines
and the bike never missed a
beat so I'm delighted."
The Supersport TT was
marred by the death of 65-year-
old Bob Price, the Englishman
crashing at Ballaugh on the third
lap of the race.
Gary Johnson
rode a Smiths
Triumph 675R
to victory in
Monday's
Supersport TT on
the Isle of Man.
PHOTOGRAPHY
COURTESY
OF
SMITHS
TRIUMPH
