Rokit Haslam Racing’s Eugene McManus was close to a podium in both British Supersport Races at Thruxton last weekend. After battling for the podium in the Sprint Race on Saturday his podium hopes were thwarted by a red flag. In the re-started race, he finished fifth. In the Feature Race on Sunday, he clawed his way from seventh to third but lost out on the last few laps by less than half a second finishing fourth this time. Younger brother James was 25th in the Sprint Race and after a promising start slipped off in the Feature Race on Sunday.
Qualification
After a positive Friday, where both James and Eugene McManus improved their lap times between FP1 and FP2, Saturday’s qualifying session saw both brothers in action. James McManus competed in Q1 and narrowly missed out on advancing to Q2. He finished 11th, just thousandths of a second shy of making it through. Meanwhile, Eugene McManus, who had done enough on Friday to secure a direct spot in Q2, started strong, running inside the top ten from early on. With an impressive effort, slicing almost six-tenths of a second off his lap time, Eugene secured 6th place on the grid. James would start the Sprint Race from 28th.
Sprint Race
The Sprint Race on Saturday afternoon was full of drama. Eugene made a superb start, climbing as high as second place before a red flag incident on lap seven brought the race to a sudden halt. For the restart, Eugene lined up in third position but couldn’t replicate his earlier explosive start. In a race reduced to just five laps, he battled hard and crossed the line in a respectable fifth place.
James, who had initially moved up from 28th to 25th in the red-flagged race, managed to gain two more positions after the restart, reaching 23rd. However, a two-second penalty for an infringement dropped him back to finish 25th.
Feature Race
Beneath glorious sunshine, the Feature Race unfolded without interruption, covering the full 18-lap distance. Eugene McManus, usually known for his strong starts, struggled off the line, dropping from 5th to 7th on the opening lap. However, the determined rider quickly found his rhythm, regaining one position on lap three and another on lap four. By lap six, Eugene had moved into 4th place, setting his sights on closing a gap of over a second and a half to the rider in third.
With the rider behind him in tow, Eugene methodically chipped away at the deficit, finally moving into third place on lap 12. But with just four laps remaining, his hard-fought position was snatched away, leaving him heartbreakingly close to the podium, missing out by a mere 0.419 seconds.
James McManus, starting from 24th on the grid, got off to a much better start, quickly gaining three positions by the end of lap two. Unfortunately, his race came to an early end when he slipped off on lap three, cutting short what had promised to be a solid afternoon.
Eugene McManus said, “This was a really positive weekend for us. We have shown all weekend we had great pace. In the Sprint Race, we were thereabouts until the red flag came out. We followed that up with a really positive race on Sunday where we were even closer to a podium finish. I’m looking forward to Cadwell Park. I would just like to wish Wilf of Moto Rapido a speedy recovery as he has been unwell.”
James said, “An up and down weekend for us. We showed some good improvements in our lap time over the weekend and it was positive to finish the Sprint Race. We started making solid progress in the Feature Race but I came off on lap three which was disappointing. All in all, it is important to look at the positives and I will continue to improve at the next round at Cadwell Park. I would also echo my brother’s comments and hope Wilf gets better soon.”
