2013-12-09 09:17:19.2
The 2010 season kicked off in earnest at Buckmore Park at the weekend and Eddie was looking to kick the year off in style after an up and down year in 2009.
Saturday
Eddie was competing with Target Racing for the last time before his switch to Galliard for round 2. He was joined for the team’s swan song by Trevor Randall and Lee Kemp.
Trevor qualified well up in 3rd on the damp track and managed to hold onto the leading pack for his double stint, coming in for the first driver change in fifth. Eddie went out and put in some good laps to consolidate the fifth position but it became obvious as the track dried that the kart was lacking top-end grunt.
Sadly for Lee Kemp, the engine lost compression badly during his double stint and he became a sitting duck as the kart had no pace. His misery was compounded with an altercation with Club16-48. The combination of these dropped the team down to 10th at the finish.
Sunday
After a disappointing season last year, Eddie was keen to get the new season off to a good start. This was achieved when he won the first heat of the day from pole position. A second place from 11th on the grid was followed by a storming drive to win from grid 19 in his final heat. This put Eddie equal on points for pole position but a grid drop for his involvement in an incident in his final heat demoted him to 5th on the grid.
Eddie made a great start from grid 5 and lead briefly going round the first hairpin. However, it soon became apparent that the kart wasn’t handling properly and Eddie start falling back down the order to eventually finish a disappointing 8th.
“I knew the handling wasn’t great in practice but the engine seemed really good and it felt quick enough so I thought I’d risk it. I really should have changed it so I’ve got no one to blame but myself for the poor result. It is a real shame because I easily had the pace to win today.”
Eddie will be in action at Rye House in just over 2 weeks time where he will make his much anticipated debut for Galliard.
