Eugene made a points-scoring start at the Silverstone National Circuit in round one of the British Supersport Championship. Eugene took a solid 8th place in race two after an unfortunate tangle with a back marker ended a potential seventh two corners from the flag in race one.
The Completely Motorbikes / Affinity Sports Academy rider was in his first competitive outing on the Triumph at Silv
erstone National circuit this weekend. Having spent some time practicing on the bike track time at the Silverstone circuit had been limited by poor weather at the official test.
That all changed for the race weekend, however, as it remained dry throughout.
Qualifying
Eugene McManus had a difficult start to the weekend with an early off in Free Practice one on Friday. However, he was back out for free practice two managing to register the 11th fastest time. Saturday morning saw him take part in the 35-minute qualifying session. Eugene managed to move up the time sheets to 11th as the clock counted down.
Sprint Race (18 laps)
The number 15 rider had a difficult start off the line dropping three positions on the opening lap. As always though Eugene is not one to give up and immediately set about regaining those lost positions.
He picked off his first rider the following lap and before reaching lap 5 in the thick of a group battling for seventh position.
Eugene continued to work his way through the group of fellow Supersport riders ahead of him. By the end of the 12th lap, he was seventh. The gap ahead to the next Supersport rider was over four seconds which left Eugene with the job of trying to maintain his chasing rivals behind him. For five laps the objective was achieved and the number 15 looked to be heading for 7th place and 12 points. However, all his hard work was undone with two corners remaining. Eugene McManus came up to a back marker and unfortunately, for him the two came together and his race was run.
Feature Race (25 laps)
Lap one proved a tricky one for Eugene McManus as he slipped from 7th on the grid to 11th after the first 1.64 miles. Again Eugene had to get his head down. By the fifth lap, he had recovered 7th position. Eugene was leading four riders as they hoped to bridge the gap to the group ahead.
On lap 14 Eugene slipped down to 9th position as he fought closely with two other British Supersport riders. Eugene battled on and regained one place to cross the line in 8th and pick up his first points of the year.
Eugene leaves Silverstone with ten points on the board.
