Two top ten finishes for Eugene at Snetterton

A ninth in race one and eighth in race two saw Eugene McManus pick up another 15 points in the British Supersport Championship at Snetterton last weekend. He has now scored 112 points this season and sits in 7th place overall.

Free Practice

The weather was a mixed bag on Friday at the Snetterton 300 circuit. During the first free practice session, Eugene McManus registered the 11th best British Supersport time on his Completely Motorbikes / Affinity Sports Academy Kawasaki. The second session on Friday afternoon took place on a damp although drying track after earlier rainfall. McManus ended the session 8th quickest.

Qualifying

On Saturday morning Eugene McManus took part in the 30-minute qualifying session to set the grid positions for the Sprint race that afternoon. Unfortunately, things did not go according to plan. Again the circuit conditions were sketchy and McManus was gradually building up speed and reducing his lap times. Having completed five laps and sitting in fifth position at the time McManus was looking to continue improving his lap time. Unfortunately, a damp track at turn 8 at the end of the Bentley Straight caught the number 15 out. He crashed and ended his qualifying session early. With other riders able to continue to improve their times McManus slipped down to 15th in the British Supersport class. However, with the track shared with the British GP2 riders, he would actually line up 20th for the afternoon’s Sprint race.

Race One

The Completely Motorbikes / Affinity Sports Academy team did a fantastic job of repairing Eugene’s bike after his crash during qualifying earlier. Starting from 20th on the grid the 10-lap Sprint Race was never going to be easy for McManus.

He made a good start gaining four places on the opening lap and another on lap two, although in his class he had only moved from 15th to 13th.

Eugene McManus then battled with three riders for 10th in the British Supersport class. On lap five he managed to overtake two of them but the leading rider of the group was proving more difficult to pass.

With three laps of the race remaining, McManus moved into tenth spot before a rider ahead crashed at Nelson Corner in the closing stages meaning McManus had battled his way back to cross the line ninth at the flag.

Race Two

In race two Eugene started from 13th on the grid (12th in the Supersport class) and made up three places on lap one.

His position then fluctuated between 10th and 8th as he battled hard with four other riders over the middle part of the race. On lap 11 McManus slipped back to 9th as a rival overtook the Kawasaki rider at Agostini.

McManus then put in his fastest lap of the race as he tried to regain lost ground eventually crossing the line in a hard-fought eighth at the flag.

The British Supersport Championship now moves on to Oulton Park for a weekend of racing from 23rd to 25th September.

Eugene said, "The weekend was a tough one for me, but we managed to salvage some points in both races.

I know it wasn’t my best weekend so I’m a little frustrated, but I am looking forward to the final three rounds of the series.

Thank you to all the team for their hard work and efforts this weekend.”