Eugene McManus Junior returned to action at the weekend when The Bennett's British Superbike Championship roled into Snetterton for Round 4.
With the traditional early season break completed, McManus Junior joined his RS Racing team mates Jorel Boerboom and Josh Owens for further testing on the Kalex Moto2 machine in the British GP2 Cup. As the Motostar paddock won't return to action until Round 5 at Knockhill in July, Eugene Junior was given the opportunity to get more miles under his belt on the bigger bike and use the weekend to continue his impressive progression from moto3 to moto2.
During the 6 week layoff Junior had been busy training with Spartan Fitness Belfast and soaking up some road racing action at the NW200, where his training partner Glenn Irwin picked up a double superbike win,
"Jake Archer came over and joined us to watch the North West 200, it was great seeing Glenn take his victories and both of us learnt so much hanging around the paddock. I was keen to get out on the moto2 bike this weekend"
Steady progress was made during Friday's free practice sessions with McManus Junior finishing the day just 3.8 seconds off P1 sitter Jack Kennedy. Saturdays Qualifying would see the GP2 class make their mark with RS Racing's Josh Owens breaking into the top 5 with a stunning lap of 1:52.263 just 0.9 off pole. McManus Junior improved and despite brake problems to finish P19 for the afternoon's sprint race. Eugene is starting to understand the moto2 bike and get to grips with its capabilities, all the team have been impressed with the the way he has handled the transition between two classes.
The 10 lap sprint became an incident packed race with 9 riders crashing out, unfortunately The Wee Bull slipped out on lap 5 after battling mid pack. On the penultimate lap, James Rispoli had an engine failure causing chaos, with several riders sliding off even after red flags had been waved.Thankfully all riders escaped serious injury, with the race ending prematurely it was Jack Kennedy that picked up another win ahead of Gearlink's Ben Currie and James Westmoreland.
Starting 29th on the grid for Sunday's Race 2 was always going to be a tough challenge, but the Wee Bull produced another brilliant display. He fought his way through the established Supersport class to eventually finish P15 and 3rd in the GP2 class behind RS team mates Owens and Boerboom. There is no doubt McManus Junior is now raising eyebrows in the 600cc class, he is maturing as a rider and adapting his style to the bigger machinery. Finishing races and gaining valuable experience is key to McManus's progression and he will surely be one to watch out for during the remaining Supersport races in 2018.
The E15 Racing team now move onto Scotland and Knockhill over the weekend 6-8th July, but will McManus Junior be competing in the Motostar Class or will we see him back on the Moto2 bike ??
Visit us here at www.e15racing.uk to find out!!!
