By Twice a Supersport race winner, six times a podium finisher, eighteen times in total a top six finisher, Gary Johnson knows what it takes and some to excel around the fabled, mythical Mountain Course.
Three years since his last TT campaign, ‘AKA Driver’ is back tackling the world’s most famous road race, prioritising solely the Monster Energy Supersport races with the Team Schleizer Dreieck 750 Suzuki.
Arriving to TT 2025, off the back of rostrum finishes at Horice (300 Curves of Gustav Havel) and the IRRC season curtain raiser at Hengelo (Varsselring), ‘AKA Driver’ ebulliently stated about this subject:
“Really chuffed with the start of the season, done a lot of work in winter, on me and the bike. I had another operation, had two operations at the start of November, which were successful, and I feel a lot better after that.
The development work, I’ve done on this bike, I’m hoping maybe if the weather’s now going bad, I’ve got less work to do on less bikes, I’ve got a good base setting from the speeds I was doing at those little road races and the data I’ve gathered over the last year from the IRRC.
These electronics have been an absolute nightmare, and I keep putting it in my little reports, the boxes are getting smaller and smaller, I love them now, but I still feel like I can get them here, I still feel this bike has so much more capability.
I’ve got a nice comfy bike to ride, I’ve got a throttle from Pedercini Kawasaki to try, because I think the throttle might have a slightly better, just struggling with a little pick up on the throttle for me been fussy but I’ve done a lot of electronics work, which has improved it a lot.”
Assigned the 24-plate for TT 2025, he went onto state:
“Even at Hengelo from the first race to the second race, first race went out on an older spec tyre, it wasn’t a bad tyre, just a bit older.
Lost that nice crisp nice edge and the throttle had a lag in it and I was out the seat three times and went a bit slower but safe as I good get home but then three lads high-sided, because their not quite as old and they maybe can do superman, so I rode as fast as I could.
Second race at Hengelo, improved the throttle, made a bit step forward put a new tyre in, boom went 1.41, that was my aim, I wanted to do a 41.2, I did a 41.7.
There was still more on the bike, more on the set up but I come away with a comfy bike and if we’d got another race at Hengelo, I’d have moved the bike to another step, which is where I’ve started here.
Pleased with the team, if I’d came on this bike, two, three years ago before my incident, it would have been a disaster as in what I feel I can do now.
I have other issues, my injuries, my shoulder and my arm and that, small things holding us back, but I feel good, the bike, we’ve done a lot of work.”
Words by Stevie Rial #dontletfearcontrolyou
