Olie clinches impressive Classic TT win
Paton mounted Olie Linsdell scored a dominating start-to-finish victory in the opening Bennetts 500cc Classic TT.
The Bedfordshire rider started the race with the number 1 plate on following his 111mph qualifying lap. Fellow TT stars Cameron Donald, John McGuinness and Bruce Anstey followed, with Michael Dunlop, Gary Johnson, Roy Richardson, Chris Palmer and Conor Cummins rounding out the top ten.
While Linsdell had an unproblematic race there was a high failure rate amongst the top machines. Donald, McGuinness, Anstey, Palmer and Cummins all failing to make the distance.
After a first lap fuel stop Linsdell re-joined the race to eventually build a margin of two minutes over William Dunlop who hustled the Davies Motorsport to a well-deserved second.
Linsdell's race time of 1:22:07.732 (110.544mph) becomes an instant race record as does his best lap of 111.660mph.
Seasoned MGP, TT and classic campaigner Jamie Coward scored an emotional third place on the 1970 Craven Manx Norton with an impressive third lap of 107.346mph.
Dunlop was made to work hard for his second place by a lengthy first lap pit stop which relegated him from second to fifth.
A great battle developed between Dunlop, on the Honda 4, Chris Palmer riding Seeley Matchless and Craven-mounted Coward.
It looked set to go right down to the wire as only four seconds separated the trio at the Bungalow on lap three but then came news Palmer had retired at Governor's Bridge.
Dunlop was able to slip into second and he and Coward consolidated their positions, conserving the bike to make sure they were able to finish.
William's race time was 1:24:08.911, an average of 107.610mph. Coward's race average was just a fraction down at 107.091mph.
Retiring TT and MGP legend Ian Lougher marked one of his last Mountain Course appearances with a solid fourth place 15 seconds down on Coward.
The popular Welshman was riding the Royal Enfield prepared by the Linsdells and Flitwick Racing which Ollie campaigned in last year's MGP 500cc Classic race.
Roy Richardson, James Hillier, Michael Dunlop, David Madsen-Mygdal, Allan Brew and Doug Snow rounded out the top ten.
Snow was astounded to be flagged into the winners' enclosure as the first privateer home. Riding a Ducati he averaged 98.075mph for the race with a best lap of 99.409mph as he sprinted for the finish line.