Published Thursday, 17 May 2012
Scenes of celebration at the North West 200. (© Pacemaker)
He won by 22 seconds from Fermanagh rider Lee Johnston with Australian Cameron Donald third and Ryan Farqhuar from Dungannon finishing fourth.
However it was Farquhar's turn to shine in the Supertwins event where he led for the full race distance.
He ended up beating his team mate Jeremy McWilliams who was making his North West debut by almost three seconds.
Michael Rutter from Birmingham was third three and a half seconds back.
Roads around the North Coast were closed from 5.30pm on Thursday as racing proper got underway for 2012.
It was the first time events have been staged separate to the main race day, which will still be held on Saturday.
Earlier, practice sessions were once again at the mercy of the weather - as was also the case on Tuesday - and persistent rain played havoc with the action.
Yorkshire man Chris Martin crashed out after he ran his MSS Bathams Kawasaki off the road at Black Hill, while other riders suffered a few slips and slides around the Triangle circuit.
Roads re-opened after the evening's racing, at about 9pm, before closing again at 10am on Saturday.