The 31-year-old Londoner displayed the same scintillating form that saw him claim victory in the New York Marathon last November as he patiently lurked behind 53-year-old veteran Heinz Frei before he outsprinted his rival over the last 300 metres of an exciting race in perfect conditions.

Weir finished with a time of 1 hour 30min 05sec while Frei clocked 1:30:07.

Third place went to surprise package Roger Puigbo Verdaguer, of Spain, in 1:30.53 who held off defending champion Josh Cassidy of Canada by less than a second but the day belong to Weir and the victory was of particular satisfaction to the Brit after he had led last year's London Marathon by a distance before two punctures cost him the 2010 crown.

"It is an amazing feeling to become the most successful men's wheelchair racer history of the competition after what happened here last year," said Weir.

"That is probably one of the toughest marathons I have ever done and I knew Heinz was going to surge towards the end.

"The last couple of miles were really tough but it feels brilliant to win and nice to do it with 500 days to the London 2012 Paralympics.

"I'm in a new chair now and that has made a big difference for me.

"But I really want to dedicate this win to my coach Jenny Archer as her mum passed away recently.

"We worked really hard for this and it feels fantastic."

Frei added: "It was a good race for an old man like me.

"The first half was tough because it has slight inclines.

"In the second half I wanted to try and help David as much as I could as we have a lot of respect for each other.

"I knew he had more power towards the end but I am happy with my overall performance and really happy for David."

Weir, the double Beijing 2008 Paralympic champion, has now firmly placed himself as the man to beat at the London 2012 Paralympic Games after also dominating the recent International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Athletics Championships in Christchurch by claiming three gold medals.

However, the British star will certainly have one eye on the Boston Marathon wheelchair race tomorrow where his great Australian rival Kurt Fearnley will be competing alongside wheelchair marathon world record holder and nine-time Boston Marathon champion Ernst Van Dyk of South Africa.

Meanwhile, Britain's double leg amputee runner Richard Whitehead, who is hoping to overturn an IPC ineligibility ban so that he can compete in the marathon event at the London 2012 Paralympics, put in a strong display as he finished in 3:05:23.

However, it was not enough to break his own leg amputee world record of 2:42.52 which he set in the Chicago Marathon last year.

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