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Unstoppable Glenn Irwin prevailed in an absorbing last-lap head-to-head with Davey Todd to leave himself on cloud nine after matching the Superbike wins record held by Joey Dunlop and Michael Rutter at the North West 200 last night.

In bright evening sunshine on the north coast, the Hager PBM Ducati rider extended his remarkable run of Superbike victories to nine in a row as Irwin now sets his sights on becoming the most successful rider in the history of the class on Saturday.

The Carrickfergus man arrived at the Ulster road race on a high following a British Superbike treble at the bank holiday Oulton Park meeting and Irwin is closing in on another hat-trick on the Italian Panigale machine, with two six-lap showpiece races still to come.

He had to work hard to see off a determined charge from Milwaukee BMW’s Davey Todd in the new four-lap Thursday evening Superbike race, which went right down to the wire at Juniper chicane.

Todd was kicking himself after choosing the wrong option on Irwin’s outside, causing the 28-year-old to run deep as his last-gasp attack came up short.

Irwin charged up Quarry Hill and took the chequered flag by 2.5s from a frustrated Todd, while Michael Dunlop was 16 seconds behind the race winner on his new MasterMac Hawk Racing Honda in third.

Irwin has overcome the first hurdle in his quest to reach 11 successive Superbike wins this weekend and the 34-year-old was in a bullish mood after his latest success.

“It’s an amazing achievement and them guys had a long career and they done that over their careers, so to go nine wins in a row… that’s [latest win] a reminder of how tough it is here,” said Irwin

“Some people want to ride harder than me here, I know that, but we can still find a way and I don’t know how we’ve done it; great team, great family support and a mindset that I don’t believe anyone on the grid has anywhere near, so that’s what makes the difference.”

On his battle with Todd, Irwin added: “He’s one of my best mates and it’s good; he’s riding with the traction [control] which gives him something, but then I had something in different areas, so it makes it a really good fight and where he’s strong, he’s really strong.

“I had to work hard to win that.”

Fiday is a rest day at the North West 200 ahead of Saturday’s main six-race programme, when roads will be closed from 9am around the 8.9-mile course.

NW200: Glenn Irwin hails 'amazing achievement' after equalling Superbike wins record to leave himself on cloud nine