Browne and Coward secure Friday Armoy race wins
Jamie Coward leads Mike Browne during a thrilling Supertwins race one at Armoy
- Published
Mike Browne and Jamie Coward secured wins in the opening two events of the Armoy road races on Friday evening.
On wet but drying roads, Yorkshireman Coward edged out Browne in a dash to the line in the Supertwins race, taking victory by just 0.012 seconds.
Kawasaki-mounted Coward led for the first four laps, before his Cork rival assumed the lead on his Aprilia after making his move at the chicane at the beginning of the penultimate lap.
A thrilling battle ensued with Coward just coming out on top by the end of the final circuit, with Michael Sweeney making up the podium, 22 seconds behind in third spot.
Browne made amends for the disappointment of missing out on Twins success by triumphing in the Supersport race which followed, again reduced from a planned seven laps to six.
The BPE by Russell Racing Yamaha rider came home 7.6 seconds ahead of first-lap leader Davey Todd on the Powertoolmate V2 Ducati.
Magherafelt's Paul Jordan completed the rostrum positions, with Dominic Herbertson and KTS Steadplan pilot Coward in fourth and fifth places respectively.
Those two races took place after a lengthy delay as rain descended on the circuit.
Todd tops Superbike speeds
Milwaukee BMW rider Davey Todd set the pace in Superbike qualifying
Earlier in the day, Todd set a new unofficial lap record in Superbike qualifying, circulating at an average speed of 108.717mph on his Milwaukee BMW by TAS Racing, a lap speed of one minute 39.605 seconds.
That pole setting lap was three seconds faster than that recorded by another English rider, Market Rasen's Phil Crowe, who was second fastest with 105.504.
Jordan was next on his Jackson Racing machine (105.113), followed by Herbertson, Coward and Browne.
Manxman Conor Cummins was eighth on his first competitive outing for FHO Racing BMW.
Todd, a four-time winner at the 2022 meeting, set the quickest time in Supersport practice at 104.688mph, ahead of Browne (103.684) and Jordan (102.128).
Herbertson headed the Moto3/125 speeds with 88.560 on his Burrows Engineering/RK Racing bike, leading Nigel Moore and Browne.
Supertwins qualifying saw Coward record the first ever 100mph lap by a Twins machine at 110.349, which was enough to lead Jordan and Browne in the speeds.
Racing continues on Saturday with a scheduled 11-race programme, including the feature 'Race of Legends'. Roads close at 09:00 BST.