Lee Johnston took today’s 350cc Okells Classic TT race with the diminutive Northern Irishman smashing the race and lap records on the Black Eagle Racing MV Agusta to win by over 40 seconds from Alan Oversby and Roy Richardson.
After a slight delay, the 3-lap race got underway at 12.03pm and it was William Dunlop who led at Glen Helen on the opening lap although his advantage over Davies Motorsport Honda team-mate Oversby was just 0.009s with Richardson, Ian Lougher, Johnston and Dan Cooper the top six leaderboard men. Oversby had nosed ahead at Ballaugh by a quarter of a second and his margin over Dunlop was closer still at Ramsey Hairpin, just 0.08s between the duo.
It was Oversby who had the significantly quicker run up and down the Mountain though and with an opening lap of 103.624mph, he not only broke the lap record but also increased his lead over Dunlop to 7.4s. He, in turn, was only 2.3s ahead of the MV Agusta of Johnston – who was some 8mph quicker than anyone else through the Sulby speed trap – with Richardson in fourth also inside Chris Palmer’s lap record. Cooper and Lougher stayed in the top six but Michael Dunlop’s challenge ended at the end of the lap with a retirement at the pits with James Hillier also out with a broken chain at Governor’s Bridge.
On the second lap, Oversby continued to lead but the man on the move and charging hard was Johnston and he continually ate into the Lancastrian’s lead throughout the 37 and ¾ miles. The deficit was down to 4.8s at Ballaugh and it was just 2.3s at Ramsey Hairpin. William Dunlop had slipped back to third, 7.4s behind Johnston with Richardson, Lougher and now Jamie Hamilton filling out the top six as Cooper retired at Ballaugh Bridge.
Johnston went ahead for the first time at the Bungalow, albeit by just half a second, and by the end of the lap, a sensational new lap record of 105.239mph gave him a 3.8s lead over Oversby who had lapped at a rapid 104.140mph himself. Dunlop remained in third but was now over 14s behind his team-mate with Richardson, Lougher and Hamilton safe in fourth to sixth places.
All of the riders went straight through to start their final lap with no one pitting for fuel and Johnston’s rapid pace could be seen further still at Glen Helen as he more than doubled his lead to 9.9s. Oversby was over 14 seconds clear of Dunlop and it looked like the only question now would be whether or not Johnston would have enough fuel to complete the race.
He certainly wasn’t slowing down, extending his lead to 17.3s at Ballaugh and 22s at Ramsey but Dunlop’s strong ride ended with retirement at Douglas Road Corner, Kirk Michael promoting Richardson up to third.
25-year old Johnston wasn’t going to be denied his maiden win on the Mountain Course, continually pressing home his advantage, and he swept across the line at the end of the third and final lap a commanding 45s clear of Oversby. Richardson was a similar distance behind in third with Lougher, Hamilton and Chris Swallow filling out fourth to sixth places.
Phil McGurk, Doug Snow, Olie Linsdell and Paul Coward completed the top ten as Tom Jackson finished in 18th place to be the first 250cc rider home.
