Glenn Irwin leads the Superbike pack at the North West 200 on his Kawasaki.

Glenn Irwin made it four Superbike victories in a row at the North West 200 after a perfectly executed last lap move on team-mate James Hillier.

The Carrick man had earlier said he wouldn’t race unless roads were dry around the 8.9-mile Triangle course, but Irwin took his place on pole position on the Quattro Plant/Wicked Coatings Kawasaki and his decision paid off.

He became only the second winner of a Superbike race at the event on a Kawasaki, following on from Mick Grant’s win in 1977. Manx rider Conor Cummins was third on the Milenco by Padgett’s Honda followed by Derek Sheils (Burrows Engineering/RK Racing Suzuki) and Alastair Seeley on the PBM Be Wiser Ducati V4-R.

English rider Hillier led for the majority of the shortened four-lap race, which got underway on damp roads at 4.25pm.

Irwin seemed content to sit behind his team-mate, with Cummins also keeping a watching brief in third. Seeley led at Ballysally on lap one but began to drop backwards as the race progressed.

The top five opened a big advantage over impressive newcomer Richard Cooper in sixth on the Buildbase Suzuki, with Michael Rutter on his own in seventh on the Bathams/Aspire-Ho Honda.

Hillier, who was riding his Superstock machine, appeared on course for his first ever NW200 win but Irwin had other ideas. On the final lap, he made his move into Juniper Hill chicane and had enough in reserve to keep his nose in front as he wrapped up another coveted Superbike success by only 0.163s.

Cummins was just three-tenths-of-a-second adrift in third as he sealed another rostrum result following his third place finish in the Supersport race.

Sheils rode a strong race in fourth, almost 10 seconds behind Irwin, but he was well clear of Seeley in fifth.

Cooper, Rutter and Matthew Rees from Aberdare rounded out the top eight.

Davey Todd leads Derek McGee and Conor Cummins in the wet Supersport race at the North West 200.

Davey Todd claimed his maiden international road racing victory at the North West 200 in a wet Supersport race.

Riding the Milenco by Padgett’s Racing Honda, Todd managed to hold off Mullingar man Derek McGee on his Kawasaki to seal the win by 0.3 seconds.

Manx rider Conor Cummins finished third on the second of Clive Padgett’s Honda machines, 0.2s behind McGee.

Magherafelt man Paul Jordan took fourth on the Logan Racing Yamaha, with the top six completed by Christian Elkin and Joseph Loughlin.

A host of top names sat out the race due to the conditions, including Peter Hickman, Dean Harrison, Michael Dunlop, Gary Johnson, Lee Johnson, James Hillier and Ian Hutchinson. Record holder Alastair Seeley missed the race after his EHA Yamaha suffered a blow up during the second restart at University.

The Supersport race was red-flagged twice due to non-serious incidents. Three riders came off at Black Hill, including Spanish racer Victor Lopez, Daley Mathison and David Murphy in separate incidents in the initial two attempted race starts.

The third attempt at the race got underway around 3pm following delays due to rain, an oil spill at Black Hill, a track inspection at University following Seeley’s engine failure and a problem with electrical power cables at Heatherlea Avenue near York Corner in Portstewart.

Three-time North West 200 Superbike winner Glenn Irwin says he won’t race today unless conditions improve.

Irwin, who is due to start from pole position in the Superbike races on the Quattro Plant/Wicked Coatings Kawasaki, said riding in the wet on the roads ‘is not my thing’.

“I have no interest in racing in these conditions and I will not be going in the first Superbike race - it is not my thing,” said Irwin.

“We have had a great week and this is part of road racing. There is not much you can do about it. It is getting worse, but if things improve, and it dries quickly, I may race later on.”

Kyle White