The Johnson family name is one synonymous with Australian road racing. In the ’70s and ’80s it was Andrew ‘Ajay’ Johnson blazing a path, a fierce and revered competitor and one of our most successful in his own right. Son Shannon inherited that love of motorcycles and made a successful progression to the forefront of competition.

The 2002 Australian Supersport Champion was adept on a superbike too and would spent a number of seasons on a 1000cc machine before reaching a defining career crossroad in 2010. Johnson would be tasked with piloting a factory-entered KTM superbike in the ASBK, and the program admittedly failed to yield the results he was after.

“2010 was a pretty trying year for me, for professional and personal reasons, both at the racetrack and away from it,” said Johnson. “A lot of things in my life were changing. I had spent the best part of two-thirds of my life as a motorcycle racer, whether it be racing motocross through to being a top-level rider on a road bike where I was getting paid and that was my job.

“I think the enjoyment was lacking for me and it was reflecting in my results. I think it was time to move on. I know other people in the past have hung on to just one more year or race, and it hasn’t gone the way they’ve foreseen. It was good to draw the line in the sand.”

But there was no shutting off his competitive urges, and Johnson quickly turned his attention to cycling, which had in the past formed a significant part of his training program. He would achieve incredible success in the early stages, and before 2011 was out was competing at world championship level.

Image: Tom Reynolds.

“In a matter of nine months I’d gone from deciding I was going to race bicycles to running up front in the world championships,” he said. “In that year I also won two national championships, and a state championship, and my learning curve was pretty steep. I learnt a lot that year and I got some great support, and was fortunate enough to get picked up by some well established teams that fast-tracked my learning.

“On a motorcycle the first person you want to beat is your teammate, where as in cycling you need to work with your teammates. Although one person will cross the line ahead of another you really do really on your team to push you and assist you to be able to achieve that result. I still learn things today, from a lot of different riders. At the end of the day if you don’t win then it’s up to you to go home and try harder.”

His results landed him a spot in the prominent Charter Mason Giant development squad which has since grown to one of the country’s elite cycling teams.

“It was kind of weird that I was picked up in a development team where the other guys in there were all 19 or 20!” he mused. “But still, from a cycling standpoint I was a rookie. Now we’ve dropped the development part, we’re one of the top three teams in the country.

“We learnt a lot last year by winning some races and stages on the national level. The team has supported me being the old guy in the team as best they can.”

While he cherishes the chances he got to race superbikes at the top level, the Victorian admits that age is a factor that now works against him as he pushes himself towards new goals in a different discipline.

“Most riders start to peak in their early to mid ’30s, but they are the riders who have spent 15 plus years racing at an elite level,” he explains. “The realistic fact is that I’ll never make it to world tour level, Tour de France, that sort of thing.

Image: Russell Colvin.

“I’ve been presented with an opportunity to race in a few Asian events later in the year if the results in the next few national events are good and tick the right boxes. So there’s definitely to go steps forward, but I really have to fast-track my learning and ability to move forward.”

It’s a solid challenge, paired with day-to-day responsibilities, but there are few people on two wheels more determined than Johnson, who has a number of boxes yet to tick as a relative newcomer to the sport.

“If I do make these steps forward it will be satisfying to know I did it the hard way,” he said. “I didn’t have the silver spoon, and worked my arse off to get there.”

While his passion for road racing dwindled initially, the time spent away, along with the tragic passing of father Ajay, has re-ignited his interest and involvement. He raced with his father’s colours in a one-off ride at the MotoGP support event in 2012 and more recently piloted the bike that his father rode with Wayne Garder at the 1980 Castrol 6 Hour, and was touched by the memories shared by friends and relative strangers.

“From that moment on I really remembered why I loved motorcycles so much, and from thereon in I started doing a lot more work with Champions Ride Days, along with development work with Motorcycling Victoria. Away from the pressures I faced as a professional racer it really is great to be actively involved again.”