2013-12-09 09:17:19.2
Eddie and IMSD Racing team-mate Stephen Deuchar scored a convincing win at the Buckmore Park 2 Hour Thunderkart race.
The duo were comfortably on the pace and were never really challenged, despite having a couple of major scares during the race.
The race was held in very wet conditions. They managed to qualify well up in fourth on the grid, instantly showing they were on the pace of the regulars. Stephen did the first hour and made a cracking and got straight up to second and took the lead going into turn 4. He then scrapped for the lead for the first few laps before easing out a nice lead.
This lead was up to about 6 seconds when the team suffered their first of two setbacks – Stephen was called in for a penalty for overtaking under a yellow flag. This lost the lead and dropped them down to fifth place. It didn’t take Stephen long to regain the lead, however, and they never lost it again.
Stephen came in at 52 minutes with a massive lead over second – so big that they were still well in the lead when Eddie joined the track after the fuel stop. Eddie then continued the strong run of form, lapping consistently and making short work of the backmarkers.
At around the hour and a half mark, the team signalled Eddie to take it easy as they had well over a lap lead over second place. He then settled down to conserve the fuel and engine, but still running circles around much of the competition.
The last scare came in the last 10 minutes of the race. Eddie, still with a commanding lead, made a very rare mistake and lost it going into turn one, burying his nose into the tyre wall. He lost the best part of a minute in this incident and had to pick up the pace again for the last 10 minutes.
This fright didn’t make a difference to the result, however, as Eddie crossed the line 18 seconds clear of the nearest competitor. Eddie then had the joy of doing a lap of honour with the flag.
When asked about the incident towards the end, Eddie was very humble in his explanation.
“It was entirely my fault. I was taking it easy and I was in a nice rhythm – not pushing at all. I simply lost concentration going into turn 1 and binned it into the tyre wall. It all happened so slowly and I was trying to get the front around so I wouldn’t get buried, but in these conditions it was just impossible.
“I was sure I had lost us the race and I was absolutely gutted. Fortunately, the marshal was very quick to get to me and had me out very quickly. Once I got going I knew we were still in the lead but probably not by much. I am so glad we had such a huge lead!”
Stephen was also delighted with the result after what he considered to be a difficult end to the 2005 season.
“This is a fantastic result and a great drive! It almost makes up for our last C100 race at Buckmore, and is a good omen for the next one!”
The IMSD B team of Ian Miller and Ian Wilson, faired less well. Qualifying ninth, they got into the top 5 before accident damage caused them to withdraw.
