Eugene McManus took sixth place in the British Supersport Feature race at Donington Park on Sunday. This followed on the back of a ninth-place finish in the Sprint race on Saturday. With two races to go the Completely Motorbikes / Affinity Sports Academy rider is seventh in the standings on 143 points.
Free Practice
Eugene McManus finished the first free practice session 7th quickest on a damp and overcast Donington Park circuit.
The second free practice session was cancelled. Heavy rainfall at lunchtime meant the rest of the day's British Superbike programme was cancelled on Friday.
Qualifying
After free practice two was cancelled on Friday the British Supersport riders were keen to get out for the 30-minute qualifying session.
Eugene McManus was hovering just outside the top ten early in the session but having made a couple of pit stops he managed to improve his lap time giving himself the 7th best time in British Supersport. Sharing the grid with the British GP2 bikes meant he would start 8th on the combined grid.
Race One
On Saturday afternoon the British Supersport riders lined up for the 12-lap Sprint Race. Although the track was blustery the circuit was dry.
McManus lost a couple of positions on the opening lap, slipping back to tenth place. Early on he was in a group of riders battling for sixth place but a small error on lap four saw Eugene McManus lose touch with the group.
A couple of laps later, Eugene then went on to set his fastest lap of his weekend so far as he tried to recover. He posted a 1:33.437.
After 12 laps McManus took 9th position and seven more championship points.
Race Two
The team and rider decided to make some set-up changes overnight. In the warm-up, it looked like these had made the difference they were all looking for. Eugene McManus posted a 1:32.680 ending the short session the second quickest.
He started the 17-lap Feature race on Sunday from the end of row three.
Starting from 9th the leading group of riders managed to open an early gap over the chasing pack. McManus was up to 7th at the end of the second lap leading the second group of riders. Despite his improved pace, it proved too much to close the riders ahead.
McManus managed a 1:32.868 on his way to cross the finish line in 6th position.
He sits seventh in the championship on 143 points.
The last two races of the season are at Brands Hatch from 14th to 16th October.