Ivan Lintin wins Gold Cup at Scarborough

Ivan Lintin dominated at the Steve Henshaw International Gold Cup meeting at Scarborough to take the spoils in the feature race.

Lintin, who started from pole on the Taylor Lindsey Honda, shot into the lead to head Padgetts Honda's John McGuinness by 1.4 seconds at the end of the opening lap, with Mick Goodings slotting into third place.

Lintin continued to pull away at the front, stretching his lead to 2.2 seconds on the second lap over McGuinness with Bruce Anstey now into third on the second of the Padgetts Honda machines, a further three seconds behind.

At the midway point of the eight lap race Lintin's advantage was now 3.6 seconds with Anstey slipping further behind in third as Lee Johnston moved up to fourth on the Pirtek Honda.

Northern Ireland rider Johnston moved into third ahead of Anstey on lap five but he was too far behind Lintin and McGuinness to challenge the top two for victory.

Barring a mistake, Lintin had the prestigious Gold Cup silverware in the bag as he extended his lead to five seconds on the penultimate lap at the 2.4-mile Oliver's Mount circuit.

And the Lincolnshire rider crossed the line to earn his maiden success in the race, with McGuinness settling for the runner-up spot, 10.26 seconds behind as Johnston finished on the rostrum in third. Anstey held on to fourth ahead of James Cowton, with Mick Goodings completing the top six.

The race was red flagged on the opening lap after Daley Mathison came off, escaping serious injury.

A somewhat depleted Gold Cup field was missing several star names this year, with eight-time winner Guy Martin missing out due to testing commitments in Germany with French privateer Suzuki team RC2L ahead of the Le Mans 24-Hour race.

Dean Harrison is still recovering from injuries sustained at the Ulster Grand Prix, while William and Michael Dunlop were not entered at Scarborough.