Page 49 says: "Treat each leg as a round of structured time, during which the Piloting (Planetary) check counts as an action on the main's pilot turn but doubles as the Fly/Drive maneuver for the purposes of moving forward along the racecourse"

The bolded part is the one I am having problems with. Doubles as the fly/drive maneuver? What does exactly that mean?

"is both" is how I read it (it's the pilot's action and maneuver). You're right though, that's terrible wording.

Normally you have to take a fly/drive maneuver to move a vehicle. Essentially this says "You don't have to spend a maneuver to keep flying along the course AND an action to make the pilot check". So the main pilot has 1 free maneuver each turn.

OOk, thanks for the clarification!