No limitations

Race drivers Michael Johnson and Stephen Simpson celebrated their first TCR victory in the IMSA Continental Tyre SportsCar Challenge season at Lime Rock over the weekend. A hard fought victory that finished in a photo finish after two hours of racing, the win was all the more precious for Johnson who has been a paraplegic since the age of 12.

Driving the #54 JDC-Miller Motorsports Audi RS 3 LMS, the pair took the checkered flag from Kenton Koch and his teammate, Tom O’Gorman, in the Team eEuroparts.com Racing RS 3 LMS by the narrowest of margins – just 66 thousandths of a second.

For Johnson, it was a dream come true, the 25-year-old suffering the life changing injury 13 years ago when a motorcycle accident left him paralysed from the waist down. 

“I have been thinking about this win, coming in professional car racing since I broke my back,” said Johnson of the result. 

“This is all the hard work over the years coming together and everyone gets to see that. It makes me so proud that I can prove to everyone that I’m the same as everyone else and that I deserve to be here, and I love to be here.” 

“I’m so proud, all the talking and now showing people that I can finally get them real results. It clearly shows that it can be done and I am so proud that I can show other people, and talk to them, that dreams can come true with lots of hard work.”

The win constitutes the third podium for the team in the past month and is a clear indication of their drive and determination. For Johnson in particular, it demonstrates his ‘never say die’ mentality in action, recovering from a serious crash in the Roar Before the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway earlier this year, but recovering to now top the podium only months later.

Stephen Simpson, who has teamed with Johnson for the past three years was equally delighted with the result, saying:

“Michael did a fantastic job today, but not just today, the last couple of months,” Simpson said. “He really kicked things off and got us in a good position at the start and then the JDC-Miller Motorsports guys gave us a great car.

“It really was a team effort and I’m pleased to get the team and Michael’s first win in the IMSA Continental Tire Motorsports Challenge. It was an exciting end there and it was another good finish.”