It was a weekend of contrasting emotions for local riders at the latest round of the British Superbike series at Silverstone. Lee Johnston made it two race wins in two weekends as he continues to mount a late charge for the Supersport title, but for Keith Farmer the event marked the end of his circuit racing career, after he announced his retirement following two crashes on his return to the Superbike class.

Johnston went into the latest round of the British Supersport Championship fresh from his first race win of the season at Snetterton the previous week, and his latest performance at Silverstone has now put him in a position to make a late charge for the title.

The in-form Ashcourt Racing rider has closed the gap on the championship leader Ben Currie by 19 points over the last two rounds, and with three rounds remaining he now lies in fourth, only 16 points adrift of top spot.

Lee qualified fifth on the grid for the sprint race around the short, twisty Silverstone circuit, and off the line he gained a place, holding fourth during the opening circuits of the 18 lap race.

On lap three he edged ahead of Jack Kennedy, lying second in the championship standings, who then crashed out in spectacular style to leave a three way fight between Johnston, Currie and Bradley Perie.

Johnston edged past Championship leader Currie on lap five, and moved into the lead of the race for the first time on lap eight, setting a fastest lap in the process.

On the penultimate lap Perie briefly got his wheel ahead, but the Maguiresbridge rider immediately regained the lead, and held on to take the chequered flag and maximum points.

The feature race on Sunday was equally fiercely contested. Currie held the early advantage among the Supersport contenders, with Johnston and Perie making up a familiar three at the front of the pack. Currie slipped back as the race progressed, and it came down to a fight between Johnston and Perie, with Lee having to settle for second place on this occasion.

It was a dramatic few days for Keith Farmer, who started the week looking forward to a long awaited return to British Superbikes, and ended the week by announcing his retirement.

Farmer had been without a seat following the collapse of his Superstock ride last month, but he was able to put together a deal with iForce Lloyd and Jones PR Racing to ride a BMW for the rest of the Superbike series.

“They had wanted me for the last three rounds but their rider cancelled after Snetterton, and they rang me on Tuesday, so I had two days to prepare and get ready to go to Silverstone,” revealed Keith.

“We had an engine failure in practice and then the fuel pump went down, but we got it running properly for the race and then the brakes failed, and I had nowhere to go, and I hit the Honda rider Takumi Takashi.

“We got the bike rebuilt for the day after and in Sunday’s warm up, in the same place, without pushing hard at all, I went into the left hander and did the same as the lap previously, and all of a sudden the rear stepped out and a massive high side sent me to the moon.

“I landed on my back, backside, head, and ended up in the medical centre unfit to ride.”

As Keith lay in the medical centre, bruised and in pain, the four time British Champion concluded that this was the moment to call time on his career.

“When I was lying on that bench in the medical centre I was thinking ‘I don’t need this,” he revealed.

“At that point I realised I had had enough. I was talking about retirement at the end of the season anyway, and that just nailed the coffin shut. I don’t want to get to the point where I am lying on a stretcher wondering if I am ever going to be able to walk again.

“When you have those thoughts in your head it’s time to stop, and that is where it is with me.

“I have been at it ten years now and it is time to hang the boots up and walk away, and do it nicely before something serious happens.

“When I wasn’t racing for a few weeks I was enjoying my time off quite a bit, and in all honesty, I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I feel I can now sit down and relax and enjoy my family,” he commented.