TT ace Lee Johnston has revealed he broke his right leg during a crash during testing in Spain last month.

In a post on his YouTube channel on Monday this week, the 34 year old said: ‘I crashed, not of my own accord unfortunately, which is massively frustrating but it could have been worse and it could have been in a faster corner or whatever.

‘Either which way, I broke my tib and fib literally in the first session.’

He confirmed the crash at the Cartagena circuit was caused by a part failure, not because of rider error or technical issue.

‘I just want to make it clear, there was nothing wrong with the bike. A part actually broke – like an R-clip on the pads – it wasn’t a mechanical fault or anything, so it was no one’s fault of anyone involved with the bike or anything.’

It’s another blow for Johnston who missed most of the 2023 road racing season including last year’s TT following a spill at the North West 200 on the Ashcourt Racing Yamaha Supersport machine.

Following that crash Johnston needed a blood transfusion before being airlifted to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, where he spent three days on a ventilator.

The Spanish spill rules him out of this weekend’s Daytona 200 in America, which was originally intended to mark his first competitive outing since his NW200 incident last May.

He now faces a race against time to be fit for May’s North West 200.