Progress and perseverance at Cadwell Park

IT was a weekend of progress and perseverance for MMB Racing at Cadwell Park, where Harry Truelove delighted his home supporters with his best results of the season.

The Lincolnshire rider impressed with fifth in the Sprint and fought for the podium in the Feature Race, finishing fourth by the narrowest of margins.

Randalstown teammate Eugene McManus endured a difficult time after electrical troubles in qualifying, but battled through to secure points on Monday.

The team now heads to Donington Park later in September with confidence.

Qualifying

The narrow 2.18 mile Cadwell Park circuit, famous for The Mountain where riders often go airborne, hosted a dramatic weekend of racing.

Both free practice sessions on Saturday took place under cloudy skies.

Harry Truelove, who has previously finished on the podium at Cadwell, made a strong start and ended Saturday’s sessions in fifth place with a best lap of 1.29.103.

Teammate Eugene McManus also began positively, clocking a 1.29.709 to finish the day 10th.

Sunday brought a dry track for the 15-minute qualifying session - but disaster struck for McManus.

An electrical fault forced him to pull over before even reaching the first corner, ending his session without a lap time.

Truelove, meanwhile, improved his lap time to 1:28.863, securing eighth place and the middle of row three for the Sprint Race.

McManus was left with an uphill battle, starting from 26th.

Sprint Race (12 laps)

With this being Harry Truelove’s home track, he was hoping to build on his excellent seventh place at the previous round.

Truelove got away brilliantly, storming into sixth on the opening lap. He rode strongly throughout, eventually crossing the line in fifth - his best result of the season so far.

Local man McManus was determined to make the best of his situation. Launching off the grid, he made up six positions on the opening lap.

By the end of the sixth lap, the Randalstown rider was circulating in 15th place. There was a gap of 3.5 seconds to the rider in 14th, but a slip off at the hairpin, however, halted further progress.

Feature Race (16 laps)

Bank Holiday Monday brought sunshine and packed banks of spectators.

Truelove was elevated two slots on the grid after his lap times in the Sprint Race on Sunday, and McManus moved up from 26th to 15th.

Truelove surged into fifth by the second corner and was soon part of the leading group.

McManus, meanwhile, showed sharp reactions to narrowly avoid a fallen rider and machine when three riders went down at the final corner. The race was first neutralised by the safety car, then red-flagged due to track contamination.

The 12-lap restart didn’t affect Truelove’s concentration as he launched himself from sixth on the grid into third place.

Things only got better for the Lincolnshire rider as he surged into second and took the race lead on lap six.

Truelove held off some serious competition for several laps before he slipped back to third on lap nine, but stayed in the hunt.

On lap ten, Jack Kennedy looked to make a move before Truelove fought back through Park Corner. Kennedy did make it past Truelove at the final corner of the penultimate lap.

Truelove was unable to respond and, unluckily, missed out on the podium by just 0.415 seconds but secured a season best of fourth at the flag.

McManus was 17th on the grid for the restart and initially made some progress, gaining three positions on the opening lap.

By the halfway stage, he was in 12th place. The Randalstown rider was unable to make further progress, with continued electrical issues, crossing the line in 13th position to pick up a few championship points.

MMB Racing are back in action at Round 8 at Donington Park from 5th to 7th September.