This weekend at Thruxton the McManus racing family were represented on two fronts, with a surprise addition to Team E15. The Wee Bull was joined by younger brother James, who made his debut in the British Junior Supersport Championship.
Motostar Round up
Eugene McManus Junior headed into Round 5 full of confidence and was looking forward to visiting the fastest circuit on the BSB Calendar. "Steady away" is always the order on day 1 and the Wee Bull looked in good form despite tipping off in FP1 and suffering with some technical issues. Undeterred, he dusted himself down and produced two top 10 finishes to take him into Qualifying on Saturday morning.
Qualifying
The championship leader Jake Archer pipped team mate Jack Scott to pole with a time of 1:19.955 on his final attempt, going quicker around the Hampshire circuit than the current lap record set by Charlie Nesbitt. With this sort of competition McManus Junior was going to have to up his game to get a front row slot. The Wee Bull put in his fastest time on lap 14, but with everyone else going quicker too it was only good enough this time for P12.
Eugene Junior
"I've struggled to get a good set up all weekend, it's a little frustrating but sometimes this happens.
The team have worked so hard to help me as they always do, I can't thank them enough, I'm hoping I can repay them with a couple of good finishes and some points"
The Motostar Series is now one of the most competitive on the BSB timetable and Race 1 showed just how tight the fight for podiums can be. In an incident packed last lap Jake Archer was clipped by Brandon Paasch and the championship leader crashed out. Eugene found himself in a duel with spaniard Victor Rodriguez for 10th place and it was The Wee Bull that claimed the 7 Championship points, finishing 0.313 of a second ahead.
Warm Up
Sunday morning's 8 minute session gave Eugene and the team a few laps to see If adjustments made overnight had improved the front end feel which Junior had been asking for.
Mike King
"That's better, he's gone 2 seconds quicker already so race 2 is looking positive now. All weekend we have struggled to find the right set up for Eugene so it's been frustrating for us, fingers crossed we have sorted things now"
Race 2
Eugene started in 12th position and was looking to get a good start to pick up a few places early on. He slotted into P10 where he stayed throughout the 14 lap race. This weekend turned out to be a testing one for The Wee Bull but positives will be taken away to Cadwell Park for the next round in a fortnight's time. As ever team E15 will be back and raring to go!!
British Junior Supersport Round up
This weekend the Wee Bull was joined by younger brother James, who made his racing debut in the British Junior Supersport Championship. 14 year old Jimmy had been chomping at the bit all year to make an appearance, father Eugene Senior was delighted to finally have both sons on track;
"I'm so proud of both the boys, young James has done a fantastic job after being thrown into the Junior Supersport Championship, he has listened and learn't all weekend and it was a shame he tipped off in Race 1 after a brilliant start!! Completing Race 2 was a fantastic achievement !! Eugene as always puts his heart and soul on the line, I cant ask for anymore from him"
Jimmy produced an incredible Qualifying time of 1:36.035 knocking 3 seconds off his free practice run, putting him 21st on the grid for Race 1 on Saturday. He got away from the line with a superb start, making up several places before reaching turn 1, unfortunately sliding out of the race before the end of his first lap, a premature finish on his debut but plenty to enjoy for Team E15. In the final event of the weekend, Jimmy finished his first competitive race without incident, a fantastic achievement considering his age and with very little time on the bike. It may not have been a winning weekend for team E15 but everyone will take away some cherished memories.
