Steve Linsdell (born 1955) is a British former professional

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

road racer. He specialized in a branch of road racing known as traditional road racing held on street circuits such as the

North West 200 The International North West 200 is a Northern Irish motorsport event established in 1929 for road racing motorcycles held on a street circuit known as ''the Triangle'' between the towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush in Causeway Coast ...

and the

Ulster Grand Prix The Ulster Grand Prix is a motorcycle race that takes place on the Dundrod Circuit made up entirely of closed-off public roads near Belfast, Northern Ireland. The first races took place in 1922 and in 1935 and 1948 the Fédération Internatio ...

Motorcycle racing career

Born in

Westoning Westoning () is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is located around south of the town of Flitwick. The River Flit flows behind the Westoning stud farm. History Dark and Middle Ages ;1086 The village is mentioned in the Do ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

, Linsdell was notable for his achievements aboard unlikely machines and in the

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world ...

. He began motorcycle racing in 1977 on a hand-built 350cc Royal Enfield Bullet - a machine not commonly recognized as a race bike. However, he soon silenced sceptics after coming second in his first ever race. After this he had a virtual clean sweep over the next two seasons - adding a 700cc Royal Enfield as a second ride in 1978. His early results had him club champion at the Vintage Racing Motorcycle Club aboard his Royal Enfields. For several years he was said, in documents such as the

Motor Cycle News ''MCN'' or ''Motor Cycle News'' is a UK weekly motorcycling newspaper published by Bauer Consumer Media, based in Peterborough, United Kingdom. It claims to be "the world’s biggest weekly motorcycle newspaper". The title was founded in lat ...

, to be almost unbeatable. For 1981 he built up a 1959 engined 500cc Royal Enfield Bullet, mounted in a

Colin Seeley Colin Jordan Seeley (2 January 1936 – 7 January 2020) was a British motorcycle retailer who later became a motorcycle sidecar racer, motorcycle designer, constructor and retailer of accessories. In 1992 he was involved in running the Norton Rot ...

frame, to compete in the unlimited

single cylinder A single-cylinder engine, sometimes called a thumper, is a piston engine with one cylinder. This engine is often used for motorcycles, motor scooters, go-karts, all-terrain vehicles, radio-controlled vehicles, portable tools and garden machinery ...

Kenning "S" series, and to make his debut at the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

Manx Grand Prix. He was moderately successful on this bike on the short circuits, but it was in the Isle of Man that he stunned his opposition and all spectators by finishing in an astonishing second place in the newcomer's race at an average speed of 94.87 mph. This was despite competing against machines over 20 years newer. Linsdell is still the last ever Royal Enfield racer to stand on the Isle of Man podium. After his debut, Linsdell went on to many more successes on the TT circuit at the

aboard some very unusual machinery. Some notable performances include sixth place in the Formula One main race at the 1995 Isle of Man TT on a hub centre steered

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

GTS - definitely not a racing machine - and in the

1996 Isle of Man TT This was the year where Phillip McCallen of Honda achieved 4 wins in a week – a record not beaten until 2010. He won all of the main races with Jim Moodie and Joey Dunlop picking up the smaller bike wins. Dave Molyneux managed to hold off R ...

setting the fastest ever lap on a British bike at over 114 mph on a Saxon-framed

Triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

. This record stood until 2003, when New Zealander

Bruce Anstey Bruce Anstey (born 21 August 1969 in New Zealand) is a professional motorcycle road racer. He is a former lap record holder on the world-famous Snaefell Mountain Course with a time of 17 minutes 6.682 seconds, at an average speed of set du ...

broke it. More recently Linsdell rode the only

two stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of t ...

at the Centenary 2007 Isle of Man TT, on board a rare 500cc former GP bike - an Italian Paton from 2001. However, mechanical failure caused him to stop after two laps of the race. He finished 2nd in the 2006 Senior Classic Manx Grand Prix on a 1968 Paton BIC 500

four stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directi ...

and in 2007 finished third behind TT winners

Ryan Farquhar Ryan Alan Robert Farquhar (born 2 February 1976, Dungannon, Northern Ireland) is a professional motorcycle racer who primarily competes in road racing. Farquhar won the Dukes Road Racing Rankings four times. He won five races at the Cooks ...

and Chris Palmer, in a race which saw the top three all break the ten-year-old 500 Classic lap record.

Other road racing

Away from the

, Linsdell has also had success at other road races, such as the North West 200 and the Ulster Grand Prix. Of particular significance is the 1992

where he had a hard-fought three way scrap with Phillip McCallen to eventually finish second - widely remembered as one of the best ever races at the

. Linsdell also scored points in various rounds of the

Formula TT The Formula TT was a racing class for motorcycles from 1977 to 1990 as the official World Cup under the umbrella of International Motorcycling Federation. It was in three engine capacity classes, and was divided into both two and four-stroke engi ...

world championship, beating many regulars on home backed machinery.

Present day and the future

Now Linsdell has started to take a back seat in order to help his son Olie Linsdell, in his racing career. Olie has enjoyed notable success on the road circuits himself, with a win at the North West 200 International Races 2007, and a double win at his debut at the Isle of Man Manx Grand Prix in 2007. Linsdell is featured on the TT Superbike Legends PlayStation 2 game, which was developed by Jester Interactive and released in November 2008. Throughout his career Linsdell has always tried to ride something different for the fans - to bring a different angle to racing and he continues to do that to this day.

References

External links

Isle of Man TT official siteOlie Linsdell racing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Linsdell, Steve 1955 births People from Central Bedfordshire District English motorcycle racers Isle of Man TT riders Living people Sportspeople from Bedfordshire