It has been a great weekend for the team and they are over the moon with the encouraging results. Johnson had a nightmare season last year in the Superstock Championship and now he has joined forces with Xpress Racing he is certainly showing what he is really worth.

Qualifying a comfortable 5th place on the grid Johnson was eager to get a good start and some healthy Championship points under his belt. A great start saw him battling with the front runners and holding his ground in 5th position. Former British Superbike runner Howie Mainwaring was carving his way through the field, which left the Australian Johnson fighting a fierce battle with Adrian Coates and Ryan Rainey for 5th place. Johnson was very pleased with his results saying 'It was a great race and a very tough battle out there on track. Brands Hatch Indy is only a short circuit and back markers always cause a problem. I met a few in the wrong place on the circuit and I couldn't get passed them. I'm really happy with my results and it's a very positive start to the season for me, many thanks to all my sponsors Drayton Croft Motorcycles, Teng Tools and MRS. I can only see this weekend as a very encouraging start to the season. I felt very happy out there I was having a few tyre problems towards the end but nothing too major. I can't wait to get to Thruxton now.' 

Nigel Broomhall, Team Manager was very impressed with Johnson's performance 'The whole team are proud of Dave's performance today and it has given us a lot of encouragement for the season. It's a very tough class out there and Dave really lived up to all our expectations. He's a very good rider and extremely easy to work with. We have a few small issues that we will be changing before Thruxton but apart from that we are assured of some strong results in the remaining races. You never quite know what will happen at the first race meeting and I'm very glad that the weekend passed without any serious glitches.'

Thruxton April 2005
Dave Johnson and his Xpress Racing team suffered mixed fortunes at the weekend which saw the 21-year-old from Leicester suffer a minor technical problem in the National Superstock Race forcing him to withdraw from 6th place. Looking strong and confident throughout practice and qualifying Johnson was looking comfortable in the in the 18-lap-race.

Locked in a tight eight bike battle the young Australian was at the front of the harassing bunch when on lap 11 he was struck with a problem. Begrudgingly pulling out of the race Johnson commented 'Although I didn't finish the race I'm still really happy with the progress that we have made over the weekend. The bike felt fantastic on race day and it was a really tough battle with the horrendously strong winds throughout practice and qualifying on the previous days which effected everything. So many riders crashed over the weekend because of the weather I was being a little cautious, as I didn't want to throw the bike down the road. Thruxton always produces some fantastic racing and I had a number of bikes behind me when I eventually pulled in. I'm not too disappointed and know that we are still very early in the Championship yet to be worrying too much.'

Speaking with Team Manager Nigel Broomhall he said 'We have found a lot of positives from the weekend and are looking forward to going to Dave's local track, Mallory in a couple of weeks time. The problem we had was only minor and was easily fixable. Obviously we were upset not to have finished the race as it will be an extremely close Championship this year but we are feeling confident with the bike and the team are all working fantastically well together to move things forward.'

Mallory Park April 2005
21-year-old Dave Johnson scored an encouraging fifth place at the third round of the Metzeler Superstock Championships at Mallory Park. Johnson who is based in Hinckley only a stone's throw from Mallory was very content with his results.

It was a mixed day with various crashes in other races being red flagged and delayed which put the Superstock race back by nearly an hour. The excitement did not end there when there was a huge pile up in the 1st lap of the Superstock race at Edwina's Chicane, which once again brought out the red flag and delayed Johnson's race.

However, once the now reduced distance race got underway Johnson was on a mission to run with the front-runners and was soon dicing it with the leading bunch. A few tyre problems caused Johnson to lose grip and slip back down the field but never the less he brought his Suzuki home in a very comfortable 5th position.

Speaking with Dave he said 'I was struggling with my tyres early on and I was great into the corners but found it tough to get out of them without the rear tyre spinning up. I'm really pleased with the result though and it's given me some good strong points in the overall Championship standing. We still have ten more races to go and I'm feeling much happier and more confident as the meetings go on. Ideally I would like to get myself on the podium and that is the target that I have set myself. I know I'm capable and the team are working so hard to get me there so fingers crossed it won't be long before I'm standing on the rostrum.'

Team Manager Nigel Broomhall was delighted with the result saying 'I'm really pleased with the progress we have made since the start of the season. Everything is falling into place quite nicely and Dave is getting consistent results which is great. Our next round is the team's local track at Oulton Park on Bank Holiday Monday (2nd May), being based in Stoke-on-Trent we should have a fair bit of support there.'

Oulton Park May 2005
Xpress Racing rider Dave Johnson took his first podium of the year at the fourth round of the British Superstock Championships at Oulton Park. The 21-year-old Australian now living in Hinckley took a confidence inspiring third place at the technical Cheshire based circuit.

Qualifying in sixth place the friendly youngster was keen to improve on his grid position and that he did in a fierce battle with a number of riders. Johnson was looking extremely content on his Suzuki and was pushing it hard all the way. Johnson is improving at every race meeting and is now making his way nicely up the Championship standings.

Producing smooth and consistent lap times Johnson was eager to take his first podium of the 2005 season. Gaining a great start from the second row Johnson got his head down and meant business and was soon carving his way through the field and was progressing forward at a rapid rate of knots. Speaking to an overjoyed Johnson he said 'It's fantastic to be back on the podium and it's given me the boost I need. The bike works great and I feel more confident each time I go out on it. I can't complain at all with third place I'm over the moon and hope that I can remain on the podium or thereabouts for the remaining meetings. I've managed to climb a few more places up the points table so I just want to remain consistent now for the rest of the season.'

Team Manager Nigel Broomhall was elated with the result saying 'I had a good feeling about this weekend when I got here on Friday and thankfully I was right. We had no major issues at all this weekend, which was a blessing, and everything fell into place and the whole team worked perfectly together. Dave is growing in confidence at every round and I believe we can continue to move forward up the grid. Mondello will be an interesting one for us as we have never been there before. However, if we can get a good set up quickly, there is no reason why we should not gain some healthy results.'

Mondello Park May 2005
Hinckley based Dave Johnson and his Xpress Racing Team suffered a difficult weekend at the fifth round of the Metzeler Superstock Championships at Mondello Park, Ireland at the weekend. Despite Johnson's valiant efforts the 22-year-old Australian could only grasp 22nd place.

Hindered with a broken fork oil seal at the start of the second qualifying, Johnson unfortunately missed the majority of the session and had to rely on his first session time which saw him start from 14th on the grid. He battled hard throughout the race and managed to hoist himself to 11th during the race until a last lap incident saw him run wide onto the gravel and as he regained he had dropped a number of places.

A disheartened Dave said 'It's a long way to come not to score any points, it's my first time at Mondello and so it was a tough learning curve getting to know the track in the short time that we had. I missed the second qualifying session, which was a shame, as I was running in the top six in the first session and I'm sure I could have bettered my time. We all worked really hard to get things right and the bike felt fantastic, obviously I've learnt a lot this weekend and we have gained a good set up for the bike if we return to Ireland next year.'

Backing up his comments Team Manager Nigel Broomhall said 'Although we didn't get the results we were hoping for it certainly wasn't through lack of trying. Dave worked exceptionally hard throughout the weekend. As a team it was a huge learning curve for us and we have taken a lot of information away from the event. Dave really knuckled down over the weekend and learnt the track incredibly quickly, he's a great rider to work with and I'm sure we'll get some more positive results to back that up at the forthcoming events.'

Croft June 2005
22-year-old Hinckley based rider Dave Johnson took another impressive podium at the sixth round of the Metzeler Superstock Championship at Croft at the weekend. Riding on board his Suzuki GSX-R1000 for Stoke based Xpress Racing he scooped 16 points for his Championship bid and took himself to 7th in the Overall standings, 14 points off 4th position.

In front of massive crowds at Croft Circuit, the biggest all year Johnson was keen to impress and show what he is made of. Qualifying in a confident second position on the gird he was eager to bag a podium result. Gaining the hole-shot in the race he looked comfortable as he led the pack. Young made a move on him but Johnson was keeping the fellow Australian closely in his sights. A crash on lap four forced the safety car to come out and as the pack bunched together, allowing Coates to make a swift move on him as the car pulled into the pits. Johnson rode an extremely smooth and consistent race and happily took the third position. His Suzuki is now two years old and he was battling with Coates and Young who are both on brand new bikes for the year and allowed them to have a slight extra power advantage.

Commenting he said 'It's has been a good weekend in general I had a few problems to contend with. The weather throughout the whole weekend was very mixed and the race, although wasn't wet, was still very damp and the track was extremely slippery. I was having a few problems with my visor steaming up throughout the race and that is something I need to get sorted before we go to Knockhill in a couple of weeks time. Generally though I am very happy with the result and I've gained some strong points from the weekend, more than what I did from Mondello.'

Team Manager Nigel Broomhall was content with the result saying 'It's good that Dave is getting consistent results and it helps him with his Championship hopes. It's good to once again see him on the podium and hopefully soon we will see him on the top step. He rode a very good and hard race and so it was a little frustrating to see him finish third, but that's racing and now we're looking forward to Knockhill on the 26th June.'

Knockhill July 2005
Dave Johnson crashed out of 3rd place at the seventh round of the Metzeler National Superstock Championship at Knockhill at the weekend. Racing for Stoke-on-Trent based Xpress Racing Johnson was tied up in a 14-wheel battle for third place and it was looking like a secured podium until the front end tucked on him. 

Setting the fastest lap of the race on lap four, Johnson was looking smooth and eager for a podium placing. He was holding his own well aboard the Drayton Croft/Xpress Racing backed Suzuki GSX-R1000 however, Johnson was disappointed not to have finished. 

The weekend had run well up to that point and the young Australian had qualified in 5th on the grid. After gaining an encouraging start Johnson was dicing for the lead and was locked in an eight-bike battle at one point, which could have swung either way. As the riders bashed fairings and exchanged colour schemes the likeable Aussie had settled into a rhythm. It was on lap 22 when Johnson slid out of the race, fortunately not damaging himself and with minimal damage to the bike.

Speaking with him he said 'I was feeling happy and content in the race and everything was working well. It was a tough dice between us all and we were exchanging positions in every lap. Every time I tried to make a break I was caught up again. Obviously I'm gutted I crashed especially when I would have certainly been in the top five, I'm still lying in 7th place in the Championship and hope to improve on that in the remaining six rounds.'

Commenting on the race, Team Manager Nigel Broomhall added 'Once again David has put in a fantastic performance, working hard all weekend and it was a bitter disappointment for David not to have finished. However, we are running consistently at the front of the grid and I am confident that we will get the results that David and the team deserve, in the forthcoming rounds of the Championship.

Silverstone August 2005
Dave Johnson riding for Xpress Racing gained a credible 6th place at the 9th round of the National Superstock Championships at Silverstone at the weekend. Johnson managed to qualify his Drayton Croft/Xpress Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 K5 in 8th place and went on to ride a consistent and positive race. Suffering with tyre problems for the last eight laps of the race he was unable to catch and make a pass on the freight train in front of him. Gaining a good start the young Australian soon settled into a rhythm and was making tidy passing manoeuvres on his fellow rivals. 

Nigel Broomhall, Team Principal added 'I am pleased overall with 6th place, although like Dave I was also hopeful of a rostrum finish. Unfortunately we were not able to get the tyres to work in our favour and David rode a very sensible and mature race to put some more points on the table.'

Cadwell Park 2005
Dave Johnson gained a valiant 14th place at the 10th round of the National Superstock Championships aboard the Xpress Racing/On Fire Suzuki GSX-R1000 K5 at Cadwell Park on Monday. The young Australian qualified in 12th position on the grid and struggled for the majority of the weekend to get to grips with the extremely technical Lincolnshire circuit.

Johnson gained a good start but was caught up in an incident on the first lap which forced him onto the grass losing him a number of places. Although he battled hard to fight his way back through the field he could only salvage 14th position and two points towards his Championship standings. Johnson was certainly in a no win situation having spent very little time >at the spectacular circuit which is extremely difficult to learn. Disappointed he commented 'It was certainly a difficult weekend this weekend as I've not had much time to learn the track. It's very technical and tricky and hard to learn, I enjoyed the weekend but of course would have liked better results for my efforts. I knew once I ran off the track that it would be very hard to gain a good result from the race, I tried to get my head down and work my way through the pack but everyone had already made a break. I'm looking forward to going to Oulton in a few weeks time as I gained a good result there back in May and hoping that I can repeat that success again.'

Nigel Broomhall, Team Principal of Xpress Racing added "The problems we have encountered this weekend are a direct result of lack of budget for testing and rider development. Having said that David made a valiant effort, although we would all have enjoyed a better result. I know the team are capable of better as David has shown earlier in the season. Oulton Park is coming up on the weekend of 10th/11th September and we know David is strong there. We are expecting a lot of local support as the team is based in Stoke On Trent and the team will be working hard to put David back on the rostrum."

DJ Takes a Step Up
A quick note from DJ on September 7th read:
Good News!!!!! I will be riding for the Sendo Kawasaki Superbike Team this weekend at Oulton Park!!

Enzo the team owner rang up yesterday offering me the ride. I had to phone up my Dad, Muzza, back home just to make sure is was the best thing to do as I had a good chance of finishing up the front in the British Superstocks but we both agreed that I should go for it. The team isn't putting any pressure on me, they just want me to do my best, give the best feedback I can possibly give to the team and have a good go. I am setting a goal of top 15 and I think that is realistic. Who knows, maybe I will surprise myself and do better!!!!