LEE Johnston was back on the top of the podium at the weekend as he retained the Scarborough Gold Cup, finishing ahead of rival Dean Harrison.

His success in the feature race success was one of four wins on board his Ashcourt Racing Yamaha as he dominated the meeting.

Lee had grabbed four wins at the Barry Sheene Festival at the same Oliver’s Mount venue last month, and went into the weekend as the holder of the cup, having won the race in 2019.

He knew it would not be plain sailing, however, with two-time former winner and good friend Dean Harrison on board a Kawasaki.

Harrison got the fastest start, but Johnston reclaimed the lead on lap one and had carved out an advantage of half a second by the end of the first lap.

He continued to pull away, with a new Supersport lap record on the second lap extending his lead to almost a second.

The pair were pulling clear of the rest of the field as they fought for the lead, with lap records being shattered every circuit, but neither rider could open up a significant advantage, with 0.6 seconds separating them by the end of lap six.

Thrilling

A final push on the final lap from Harrison reduced the gap to 0.2 seconds, but Johnston held on to win a thrilling race.

In a packed weekend of action, the Gold Cup win was one of four for Johnston, who has been in scintillating form since racing returned.

His first triumph of the weekend came in the Supersport A race.

Harrison was again his closest challenger, taking the lead for the first time on lap four when he passed Johnston.

The Maguiresbridge rider was not to be beaten, however, and on the last lap he surged past the Kawasaki to take the opening race win.

Johnston then made it back-to-back wins when he won again in the second Supersport contest.

Red flags ended the first attempt to complete the event, but the second race over four laps saw Lee move into an early lead of 1.5 seconds, and he was able to hold on to top the podium.

The third Supersport race followed a similar pattern, with Johnston again finishing ahead of Harrison, before Harrison finally got his revenge when he reversed the top two positions in the final Supersport outing.