NW200: Lee Johnston on pole in Supertwin class

Northern Ireland rider Lee Johnston has qualified on pole position for the Supertwin races at the North West 200 on the East Coast Kawasaki
NW200: Lee Johnston on pole in Supertwin class

Former British Superstock 600 champion Lee Johnston has qualified on pole position for the Supertwin races at the Vauxhall International North West 200.

Johnston set a fastest lap on his East Coast Racing Kawasaki at 107.85mph to take the top spot from Scottish competitor Keith Amor, who is making his first appearance at the event since 2010.

Amor, who has come out of retirement this season after calling time on his career at the end of 2011, lapped at 107.36mph on the KMR SGS International Kawasaki machine, 1.3 seconds down on Johnston.

Third fastest was Ivan Lintin at 107.26mph, who was a winner in the class at the Scarborough Spring Cup meeting in April.

Michael Dunlop jumped to fourth place late on in the session on the MD Racing Kawasaki with a lap in excess of 106mph and will fancy his chances of pushing for his maiden international win in the class.

Dunlop won the Supertwin race at the Cookstown 100 Irish road races in April to secure is first win on the 650cc machine.

James Cowton and Jeremy McWilliams completed the top six in the final qualifying session.

The first Supertwin race takes place on Thursday night at the 8.9-mile circuit along with the opening Supersport and Superstock events.

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