Eugene McManus had an up and down weekend at Round 10 of The Hel Performance Motostar British Championship.
Eugene was looking to show some early form and quickly got into a good rhythm in both FP1 and FP2. Tom Booth Amos had set the tone yet again but McManus dug deep and finished the first session in second, just 0.098 seconds behind the Championships leader.
FP2 was dominated by City Lifting's Booth Amos who smashed the Oulton Park lap record setting a new time of 1:43.201, The Wee Bull again finished best of the rest in second 1.892 seconds adrift.
McManus was happy with his efforts so far;
"Tom is flying and I don't think anyone can catch him again this weekend but I am looking to pick up podiums and feel really confident going into Qualifying. If I can start on the front row then you never know we could surprise him"
Qualifying began in damp conditions, so all three Ryan Saxelby ktm's delayed joining the session until the track improved. McManus completed 10 solid laps and put himself on the front row in second position behind Booth Amos, Jake Archer completed an RS Racing lock out proving the decision to wait was the right one.
Race 1 began with the RS racing trio getting the hole shot and by lap 3 Booth Amos had opened up a 5 second lead over McManus and Archer, who were now left battling for P2 and P3.
The threesome had gapped the rest of the moto3 pack and were looking good until lap 9 when McManus made a mistake chasing Archer and slid off at Druids. Booth Amos romped home 11 seconds ahead of Archer with Richard Kerr completed the podium.
Eugene Junior
"I made a mistake, I need to learn to stay focused when fighting for podium places, I pushed too hard and paid the price I suppose that's racing."
Race 2 - After the previous day's mistake, The Wee Bull showed his maturity, took on board advice and in difficult track conditions picked up a fourth place finish rather than pushing for a trophy. Tom Booth Amos left the field behind to pick up his 15th win of the season. McManus was in a battle for a podium but backed off and displayed the sort of character that will stand him in good stead for the future. Consistency will undoubtedly bring this talented Irishman a championship in the coming years, the race craft and dedication is already there it's only a matter of time.
