Glenn Irwin came out on top after a thrilling duel with Davey Todd to secure a ninth consecutive North West 200 Superbike win and equal the all-time record of victories in the premier class.
Michael Rutter and the late Joey Dunlop also achieved nine Superbike successes and Irwin will have two opportunities to surpass their tally when the big bikes take to the grid again on Saturday.
Hundredths of a second separated the dicing duo at the front throughout as they put on a scintillating display of high speed closed public roads racing between the hedges and stone walls of the nine-mile Triangle circuit.
Both riders obliterated the absolute lap record on their second circuit of four, Irwin setting a new benchmark for the course at a speed of 125.779mph.
That lap of four minutes 16.737 seconds sliced two seconds off Peter Hickman’s two-year-old record.
Todd was marginally behind with his speed of 125.673.
The Yorkshire rider led after each of the first two laps, with his Northern Irish rival right on his back wheel as they battled for supremacy in front of tens of thousands of excited spectators.
The lead changed hands several times on the final two laps, with Irwin assuming his place at the front at the end of lap three and ultimately coming out on top after Todd’s chances were extinguished when he lost out on the coast road section.
The fact that the pair dominated qualifying promised much for the race and they certainly didn’t disappoint as they were the principle protagonists played out one of the most memorable races seen over the circuit in recent years.
Michael Dunlop was 14.2 seconds behind Todd to take third, while Peter Hickman edged out Dean Harrison for fourth, and Conor Cummins rounded out the top six.
Richard Cooper was a convincing Supersport winner and Todd took the chequered flag in the Superstock class.