Eunan McGlinchey confirms British championship return in Supersport class for 2021

The Aghadowey rider made his debut in the World Supersport 300 series this year but decided against pursuing the same path next season, parting company from the Cork-based Team 109 Racing in an amicable split after three years together.

McGlinchey, who won the British Junior Supersport title in 2018 and finished fourth in the National Superstock 600 Championship last year, clinching two victories, said he wants to ‘return to winning ways again’.

He endured something of a baptism of fire at world level as he pitted himself against some of the sport’s hottest young prospects in the Supersport 300 class, with McGlinchey also having to contend with the extra challenge of learning the European circuits for the first time.

Although he considered returning for a second bite of the cherry next year, the 22-year-old eventually opted to come back to the British championship.

He told the News Letter: “I’ll be back in the British Supersport Championship next year but I can’t say what the deal is right now because it’s not yet official, but I’ve a deal more or less sorted.

“It was my own decision and we went down and had a meeting with Team 109 and went through what was on the table for next year.

“I just decided that I didn’t want to go down the world route again because my racing took a bit of a beating this year with not being at the front and having my name in the spotlight, which is important when it comes to looking for sponsors and getting rides to move on to in the future.

“So I didn’t want to take that chance and do the same thing again next year and maybe end up wasting another year,” he added.

“At one point I was actually all set for going to World Supersport 300 again but the more I thought about it, the more I thought I just wanted to get back to winning ways and get my confidence built up again.”

McGlinchey feels he made the step up to world level too soon but has no regrets and says he has improved significantly as a rider this year.

“I’ve tried the world championship but I just don’t think it was the right move at the right time.

“I was new to the championship and so was my team, but really you need to be going there with a team that has world experience because then you’d got data and everything that the team already knows, which would mean I wouldn’t have to go out and try and build the bike around me - that’s what I had to do this year,” he said.

“If you had an experienced world championship team behind you then you could go out there and be fast right away, which is what all the other riders were doing.

“But it has made me a faster rider because my riding style has changed and so has the way that I ride the bike now because the racing is at such a high level, it really brings you on.

“If I took the chance of doing the same thing again next year and we didn’t get the results, then maybe I would really struggle after that to get another good ride.

“Now I just want to get my name out there again and see how we get on.”

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