James McManus took a 6th place finish in the first Junior Supersport race at Silverstone before being taken out once again in race two by another rider crashing on the first lap.
Free Practice and Qualifying
The Hel Performance British Junior Supersport class managed to avoid the wet spells during the day with both free practice and qualifying being dry.
James McManus was 8th fastest in the lunchtime free practice finishing with a best time of 1:04.694. In qualifying, at the end of Friday, McManus improved by three-tenths of a second putting him at the head of row two for the first race of the weekend.
Race One
James McManus launched himself off the Silverstone start line and swung into Copse in second position. The race leader began to open a gap at the front early on leaving a group of around eight riders battling hard for the remaining two podium positions. McManus’ track position oscillated between fourth and seventh but in general he led the chasing pack for most of the race. As they came along the Wellington Straight for the final time and entered Brooklands two riders managed to slipstream McManus. The result was that he dropped to sixth as they rode out of Luffield and onto the start finish straight for the final time.
With the grid for race two based on lap times from race one. McManus was rewarded with 5th place and the middle of row two for Sunday’s race.
Race Two
McManus made a great start from fifth off the line and was running on the outside into Copse Corner when two riders inside of James touched. As one fell the other struck James’ Kawasaki and the two of them ran off the track and tumbled out. Clearly not the way the race was supposed to develop and another occasion this year where McManus has been on the receiving end of someone else’s accident.
James McManus has now scored 79 points and is 9th overall in the Championship.
James McManus said, “We had great pace in race one. We were as fast as everyone else on track and had the speed to reach the podium. We didn’t quite make it but then the racing was so close that can happen. Sixth was not so bad. In race two we were unlucky as we got caught up again in someone else’s incident. Despite that I am very positive because I am happy with the bike and my riding so we move on and now I will focus on the next round.”
The next event is at Oulton Park this time from 24 to 26 September.
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