David Johnson said it felt ‘unreal’ to have taken his first ever podium finish at the Isle of Man TT Races when the Australian took third place in Thursday afternoon’s Superstock race.

The Honda Racing rider was down in ninth place at Glen Helen on the opening lap but a speed of 129.473mph hauled him up to fifth by the time he reached the Grandstand for his mandatory pit stop.

And with his pit crew turning him round in double quick time, he was able to challenge Michael Dunlop for the final podium position which he duly sealed albeit by the slender margin of 0.208s.

“After god knows how many fourth place finishes, it feels unreal to finally take a podium and it’s about bloody time,” Johnson said afterwards.

“It took me a while to wake up on the first lap and I don’t seem to be able to go fast straightaway but the boys did a great job at the pit stop and it gave me a chance of the podium.

“I wasn’t sure if they’d put enough fuel in to be honest but I just got out of the pits as quick as I could.The crew were all hand-picked by myself and we’ve all worked hard and have a great team spirit so it’s just an unreal feeling.”

“It wasn’t all plain sailing though and on the second lap at Hillberry, I got a false neutral and it happened a few times on the last lap but I just kept banging the gears in. I didn’t know who I was dicing with for third and just tried not to put a foot wrong on the last lap.”

Johnson was still in fourth at Cronk ny Mona on the third and final time but his last lap of 130.585mph saw him come home third.

“I lost a bit of time through Glen Helen on the last lap but coming over the Mountain on the last lap was probably the best I’ve gone over there. I wasn’t sure if I’d done enough and the bike spluttered a bit over the line but I’m over the moon and I’m well pleased that Honda put their faith in me.”