Supersport race winner Paul Jordan with runner-up Adam McLean (left) and Michael Sweeney.

Magherafelt’s Paul Jordan snatched victory on the line from Adam McLean in a thrilling opening Supersport 600 race at Armoy on Friday.

The race had been restarted over four laps of the three-mile course following a red flag. The rider involved did not sustain any serious injuries and the race went ahead over a shortened distance.

Pole man Derek McGee missed out after developing a problem following the warm-up lap in the initial race.

McLean set the pace on the McAdoo Kawasaki from Jordan, with Davey Todd in close contention in third on the Burrows Engineering Honda ahead of Michael Sweeney.

Tobermore rider McLean, back in action for the first time since his team-mate, James Cowton, was killed in a crash at the Southern 100, had opened a slender advantage of 0.3 seconds over Jordan at the end of the penultimate lap, with Todd a further four tenths in arrears and under pressure from Skerries man Sweeney.

A grandstand finish was in prospect on the last lap and it was Jordan who prevailed by the narrowest of margins on his private Yamaha R6, squeezing past McLean by half-a-wheel after gaining better drive to the finishing line.

Sweeney, who set the fastest lap of the race at 102.78mph, claimed the final place on the rostrum after finding a way past Todd on the last lap.

Christian Elkin was over 10 seconds behind the winners in a comfortable fifth, some six seconds clear of Graham Kennedy, who rounded out the top six.

Earlier, the first Senior Support race was won by Stephen McKeown by 2.8s from Tommy Henry, who only just held onto the runner-up spot from Mike Swanson.

The race was declared a result following a non-serious red flag incident.

All practice sessions and the first two races were slickly run by the Armoy Club, with roads around the course opened at approximately 6.50pm.

The event, sponsored by the Bayview Hotel, is celebrating its 10th anniversary meeting this year.Roads will close on Saturday at 10am for the main race programme.

Kyle White