Rutter’s team mate, David Jefferies, was second in both superbike races with Scotland’s Jim Moodie missing victory in the five-lap 600 encounter by just 15 hundredths of a second, in spite of suffering a heavy cold.

Moodie, riding the Castrol Honda CBR600, led the field into the final lap of the 9-mile circuit at Portrush, Co. Antrim. However, a backmarker slowed the Glaswegian’s progress and allowed Rutter to slip through to take the chequered flag. Moodie, who also finished second to Richard Britton in the Production race, was consoled by a new 600 lap record of 4m40.93s (114.896mph).

"My head was really woolly and I wasn’t feeling too good," said Moodie, who later withdrew from the feature North West 200 superbike race. "I was comfortable in the lead on the last lap but a slower rider just messed it up for me."

Reigning British 250 champion, John McGuinness, claimed an impressive 11-second victory over Welshman, Ian Lougher, in the 250 race having finished runner up for the past two years.

The Demon Vimto Honda rider commented: "I had to put in a strong performance today and my experience paid off. We’ve worked hard for this and the bike was perfect."

McGuinness retired from both superbike races on his Honda VTR1000 SP-1 while tyre problems plagued his illustrious partner, Joey Dunlop, who rode the second Demon Vimto SP-1.

Dunlop finished fifth in the first outing but was black-flagged at Metropole in race two. The 23-times TT winner said: "We altered the rear suspension but the same thing happened again in race two. It’s disappointing but we can’t do anything about it now".

Dunlop finished fourth behind his brother Robert in the 125 race, which Ian Lougher won by less than a second from Irishman Paul Robinson.

Results

First Superbike race (six laps): 1 Michael Rutter (Yamaha) 27m32.45s, 2 David Jefferies (Yamaha) 27:33.20, 3 Iain Duffus (Honda) 28:03.71s, 4 Adrian Archibald (Honda) 28:03.92, 5 Joey Dunlop (Honda) 28.04.72, 6 Jason Griffiths (Yamaha) 28:40.47.

North West 200 Superbike race (six laps): 1 Rutter 27m09.29s, 2 Jefferies 27:20.11, 3 Ian Lougher (Yamaha) 27:57.53, 4 Griffiths 28:05.98, 5 Rob Frost (Yamaha) 28:08.66, 6 Archibald 28:08.92.

Supersport 600 race (five laps): 1 Michael Rutter (Yamaha) 23m34.00s, 2 Jim Moodie (Honda) 23:34.15, 3 David Jefferies (Yamaha) 23:35.76, 4 Ian Lougher (Yamaha) 23:36.24, 5 Joey Dunlop (Honda) 23:36.95, 6 Adrian Archibald (Honda) 23:5.15.

Production race (five laps): 1 Richard Britton (Yamaha) 23m30.24s, 2 Jim Moodie (Honda) 23:30.51, 3 Adrian Archibald (Honda) 23:30.95, 4 Jason Griffiths (Yamaha) 23:51.06, 5 Brian Gardiner (Yamaha) 23:53.70, 6 Woolsey Coulter (Aprilia) 20:03.32.

250cc race (six laps): 1 John McGuinness (Honda) 28m56.65s, 2 Ian Lougher (Honda) 29:07.12, 3 Callum Ramsay (Yamaha) 29:07.54, 4 Alan Patterson (Honda) 29:50.75, 5 Stephen Thompson (Yamaha) 30:15.17, 6 Gary Dynes (Honda) 30:15.54.

125cc race (four laps) all Honda: 1 Ian Lougher 21m17.84s, 2 Paul Robinson 21:18.44, Robert Dunlop 21:18.65, 4 Joey Dunlop 21:20.12, 5 Michael Wilcox 21:20.48, 6 Chris Palmer 21:25.21.