Dean Harrison won Saturday’s 500cc Classic TT, the opening race of the 2015 Festival of Motorcycling, with the Black Eagle Racing MV Agusta rider coming home ahead of last year’s winner Ian Lougher.

However, Lougher would have won the race had it not been for a 30-second penalty for speeding in pit lane. Harrison’s team mate Lee Johnston took third as a number of expected front runners retired.

“Apart from the last lap when I had a bit of an oil leak, the bike never missed a beat and if you don’t have an oil leak on a Classic bike, it’s not a classic bike is it! I was a bit wary at the beginning with the tyres but once got into the race, everything just flowed and it was a really fun race,” said Harrison.

“I didn’t have any pit boards and when I saw John and Ryan parked up, I started to try and work out who else could be pushing at the front and who could be a rival. I never really saw anyone during the race and just kept it steady. Conditions were good apart from a bit of drizzle on the Mountain on the last lap between the Verandah and Brandywell. I’ve been told Ian (Lougher) would have won the race had he not been penalised for speeding in pit lane but it serves him right, he should know better at his age!”

It was quickest in practice John McGuinness that led at Glen Helen on the opening lap by 1.1s from team-mate Ryan Farquhar, closely followed by Harrison, Lougher, Johnston and Michael Dunlop but by Ballaugh it was clear the Morecambe Missile was in trouble as he was down to fifth with Farquhar now leading by just over three seconds from Harrison.

Michael Rutter and William Dunlop were also in trouble stopping at Sarah’s Cottage and Ballacraine respectively and McGuinness was soon posted as a retirement at Parliament Square. There was further drama when Farquhar was reported as having suffered a similar fate at the same corner.

So, at the end of a dramatic opening lap, it was Harrison who led with a lap of 110.463mph, which gave him a 15.8s lead over Lougher who pitted for fuel. Johnston was in third on the second MV followed by Michael Dunlop, Dan Cooper and Danny Webb. Just like twelve months ago though, Lougher was penalised by 30s for speeding in pit lane, dropping him back to eighth.

Dunlop was now leading on the road but Harrison was the man setting the pace and he was really pressing on, extending his lead throughout the second lap. Indeed, with another 110mph+ lap, his advantage over team-mate Johnston was now 18s, the duo both stopping to refuel. Dunlop was holding a good third from Lougher and Webb but Cooper was another retiree, coming to a halt along the Cronk y Voddy straight.

The pit stops closed the field up and at Glen Helen on lap three, Harrison’s lead over Dunlop was only 3.2s with Johnston a further 14.3s adrift. Lougher was also charging, only four seconds behind the final podium place.

However, for the remainder of the lap, Harrison reasserted his authority back on the race and heading into the fourth and final lap, his lead was back up to 25 seconds over new second place man Lougher, who lapped at 110.729mph. Dunlop was two tenths of a second behind Lougher in third as Johnston dropped back to fourth but Webb’s good run came to end at the pits, the British Supersport runner retiring from fifth

There was no such trouble for Harrison though and he duly came home in first, the third different Classic TT winner in as many years. His gap over Lougher at the end was 26.8s as Johnston completed the podium in third.

Dunlop went out at the Mountain Mile on the final lap and that allowed Jamie Coward and Chris Swallow to move up to fourth and fifth with Keith Amor’s persistence being rewarded in sixth. Wattie Brown, David Madsen-Mygdal, Ivan Lintin and Phil McGurk completed the top ten.

Bennetts Classic 500cc TT results:

1 12 Dean Harrison MV Agusta / Black Eagle Racing 01:23:11.161 108.855 GP2 Silver
2 11 Ian Lougher CMM Paton / Giovanni Cabassi/Flitwick Mot 01:23:37.965 108.273 GP2 Silver
3 13 Lee Johnston MV Agusta / Black Eagle Racing 01:23:51.978 107.972 GP2 Silver
4 17 Jamie Coward Craven / Craven Honda K4 /Ted Woof 01:25:40.908 105.684 GP2 Silver
5 18 Chris Swallow Norton / D.G.Kenah 01:25:51.043 105.476 GP1 Silver
6 14 Keith Amor Manx Norton / Tony Dunnell / Rigdeluge 01:29:17.268 101.416 GP1 Silver
7 25 David Madsen-Mygdal Honda / Team Gimbert Racing 01:31:13.800 99.257 P2 Silver
8 19 Ivan Lintin Seeley / Brian Richards 01:31:20.727 99.131 GP1 Bronze
9 21 Wattie Brown Norton 01:31:44.182 98.709 P1 Silver
10 47 Philip McGurk BSA 01:32:09.852 98.251 P1 Silver
11 37 Dave Matravers Seeley / Round Oak Services Ltd 01:32:50.788 97.529 P1 Silver
12 38 Bruno Leroy Vincent / Patrick Godet 01:32:53.456 97.482 P1 Silver
13 36 Barry Davidson Honda / RJP Racing 01:33:49.691 96.508 P2 Silver
14 34 Doug Snow Ducati / John Snow 01:34:07.906 96.197 P1 Silver
15 50 David Sellers Drixton Honda / Chris Hughes Racing 01:34:15.698 96.065 P2 Silver
16 46 Alec Whitwell Bates Honda / Geoff Bates Racing 01:35:23.928 94.919 P2 Silver
17 55 Keith Clarke Norton / Izzard Racing 01:35:30.552 94.810 P1 Silver
18 52 Henry Bell Honda 01:36:07.427 94.204 P2 Bronze
19 60 Dean Martin Honda / Davies Motorsport 01:36:17.215 94.044 P2 Bronze
20 73 Andy Lee Norton / Brookside Garage Sabden / Wiz N 01:37:26.010 92.937 P1 Bronze
21 56 Mick Moreton Paton 01:38:03.384 92.347 P2 Bronze
22 62 Edward Poole Norton / Sheila M Poole 01:38:56.799 91.516 P1 Bronze
23 71 Grant Sellars Norton / Self 01:39:53.758 90.646 P1 Bronze
24 80 Brian Cooper Norton 01:39:55.336 90.622 P1 Bronze
25 61 Arthur Browning Seeley 01:40:00.205 90.549 P1 Bronze
26 58 Ian Bainbridge Norton / Mutley Racing 01:42:03.667 88.723 P1
27 68 David Webber Petty Norton / Team Tortoise 01:42:08.126 88.659 P1
28 72 Geoff Bates Bates Honda / Geoff Bates Racing 01:42:18.885 88.503 P2
29 88 Paul Matravers Norton / Round Oak Services Ltd 01:43:31.652 87.467 P1
30 83 Arthur Jones Matchless / J.A.Jones Engineering 01:44:47.772 86.408 P1
31 78 Roy Phipps Honda / Biketech Stoke Ltd 01:45:35.247 85.760 P2
32 82 Lee Jennings* Dunnel / Lee Jennings/FWR/Lee Jennings 01:21:05.316 83.753 P1
33 90 Jan Koning ABSAF Seeley / ABSAF 01:23:46.236 81.071 P1