The McManus brothers from Randalstown delivered a strong performance during the latest round of the British Supersport Championship at Oulton Park. Despite challenging weather conditions, both Eugene and James McManus showcased their skill and determination, with Eugene securing two 6th-place finishes and James earning his first point of the season after an impressive return to racing.
Qualifying
Friday saw both brothers participating in two free practice sessions, with Eugene placing 7th and James 19th. These results set the stage for Saturday morning’s Qualifying Session, where James first had to compete in Q1. His solid lap time of 1:39.478 secured him 4th in the session, earning him a spot alongside Eugene in the Q2 shootout.
Q2 featured 25 riders, and both McManus brothers worked hard to secure competitive positions on the grid. Eugene managed 10th, while James placed 21st, setting them up for a strong showing in Saturday afternoon’s Sprint Race.
Sprint Race
Saturday afternoon brought bright and pleasant conditions for the Sprint Race. Eugene made a quick start, settling into 9th place at the end of the first lap. James also impressed, gaining two spots immediately and moving up to 18th (17th in the Supersport class) within a lap.
As the race progressed, Eugene steadily climbed through the pack, reaching 7th by the halfway point, while James pushed into the points, moving up to 15th. A faller at Lakeside on the penultimate lap caused the race result to be called early, with Eugene securing 6th and James achieving a fantastic 15th-place finish, earning his first point of the season.
Feature Race
Sunday brought a dramatic change in weather, with rain showers causing chaos. The morning warm-up session was red-flagged and ultimately cancelled, but by the time the Feature Race was ready to start, a dry line had begun to form on the track. This presented a tough tyre choice for the riders, as conditions remained slippery off the racing line. Both Eugene and James opted for full wet setups.
Eugene, starting from the second row thanks to his efforts on Saturday, got off to a strong start. However, a small mistake on lap six saw him drop two places to 6th. He stayed with the leading group, which at one point featured eight riders. After falling to the back of the group, Eugene fought back in the closing stages of the race, reclaiming positions on laps 11 and 12 to finish 6th once again and the first Ducati machine across the finish line.
James had a promising start from 16th on the grid, but an incident on lap eight caused him to drop from 17th to 21st. He battled through the tough conditions to finish 22nd, a valiant effort given the track conditions.
Eugene McManus said, “I am pleased to have achieved two solid results this weekend. We had not qualified as high as we would have liked for the Sprint Race but did well to come through and finish 6th. On Sunday it was a difficult race for everyone, another 6th place was not a bad result.”
James McManus said,” It was good to swing my leg back over the bike after missing the last round. The bike felt good all weekend and I was delighted to reward the team with my first point of the season in the Sprint Race. Sunday was tricky but we brought the bike across the line safely and I am now looking forward to the next round at Donington Park.”