Eugene McManus took two 11th place finishes at Brands Hatch to finish a very consistent British Supersport season which saw him score 153 points, including a podium at Knockhill and finish 8th overall.
Free Practice
During the two free practice sessions on Friday Eugene McManus was 12th quickest.
Qualifying
During the 30 minute qualifying session McManus was up to 7th with five minutes to go. Pushing hard to improve his lap time further the Completely Motorbikes / Affinity Sports Academy rider had a low speed crash, slipping off at Druids. With no damage done and a quick check by a nearby marshal, he returned to the circuit and improved his lap time in the closing minutes. Unfortunately, he fell foul of the regulations having not returned to pit lane for the bike to be checked over and although he improved his lap time it was scrubbed from the records.
McManus had qualified 12th in the British Supersport class but would line up 14th when his lap times were combined with the British GP2 riders.
Race One
Saturday afternoon saw the 12 lap Sprint race. McManus managed to gain three positions off the line moving him up to 11th in the British Supersport category.
He quickly improved taking over tenth spot. Around half race distance McManus slipped back to 11th. He was unable to make further progress and at the chequered flag remained in 11th.
Race Two
Overnight the team made some changes to the bike set up with a view to improving rear grip. The idea was to test these settings in the morning’s warm up but the track was damp. With little benefit to be gained Eugene, along with most riders, did not venture onto the circuit.
He started from 16th on the grid in the 16-lap feature race on Sunday. He again made a good start moving up to 15th on the first lap.
He was regularly lapping in the 1.29s setting very consistent lap times throughout the race. This enabled him to rise as high as 12th by lap seven. He managed to close in on another rider ahead slotting into eleventh position with a couple of laps remaining where he remained to cross the line for another 11th place finish.
Eugene McManus said, “I would like to say a massive congratulations to my brother James who won the British junior super sport championship this weekend, and how proud I am of what he has achieved this year!”
“I had a tough weekend and unfortunately not the results I wanted to finish the year with but we kept working and making improvements throughout the weekend. I’d like to thank everyone that has played a part in our racing this year from my mum and dad, all at the affinity sports academy and all our sponsors that make it possible. “
“I now look towards 2023.”