2013-12-09 09:17:19.2
Eddie was stripped of his third place finish at Whilton Mill after an incident on lap 2 in which he tapped a rival into a spin. It was a controversial decision, as the start was a shambles...
Eddie had average qualifying heats. In his first heat, starting 8th he was crowded at the start and had to take avoiding action when karts spun in front of him. He nevertheless fought back up to 7th position.
Sixteenth to 9th was the result of heat two and heat three was even better. Starting third on the grid, he made a storming start to wrestle second into turn 1, which became 1st at the hairpin at turn 2 (A successful version of what he attempted here last season when he spun going for the lead in the B final). Eddie pulled out a good lead and held it for 4 laps before being reeled in by the flying Kieran McCullough and championship leader Brian Trott.
“There was no way I was going to keep those guys behind me. Kieran was flying as usual and, although I fought back with Brian, his speed is just far superior.”
As at Lydd, Eddie just missed out on an A final. He nevertheless lined up on the front row of the grid in the B final in second position.
Coming out of the last corner before the start, the Pole Position holder, Chris Davis blasted away into the distance, followed by third place driver Ian Berry. This left Eddie crossing the line out of position, over two kart lengths behind. The start was not aborted, however, and Eddie only just managed to hold onto third position. Closing the gap to the leaders into the hairpin, Eddie was right behind Davis at the end of lap 1. Coming into the kink before turn 1. Contact was made and Davis spun off. Eddie carried on and pursued Berry for the lead. The duo were eventually overhauled by the flying Gary Howse.
Eddie continued his pursuit of Ian Berry, despite being notified of a penalty for contact with Chris Davis. Eventually finishing just over a second behind Berry for third, Eddie was later demoted down to seventh and stripped of a place in the A final.
Eddie was furious with the decision after the race. “I couldn’t believe the start. It was so blatantly a false start but the race stewards just seemed to turn a blind eye to it – even though it happened right under their noses! That put me completely out of position and meant that I had to fight for a position unnecessarily.
“This ultimately resulted in me being given a penalty for ABC (Advantage By Contact). I can sort of accept the penalty because, ultimately, I did gain an advantage. What p**ses me off is that the guy backed off far more than is necessary into turn 1, leaving me no option but to hit him. The second irritant is the fact that I shouldn’t have been behind him in the first place if the stewards had been doing their job properly.”
Eddie did, for the first time, lodge a protest on the decision but it was unsurprisingly rebuked.
“It is unlike me to get so annoyed with a decision that I have to speak to race control. Normally I just accept the stewards decision and leave it be – even if I don’t agree with it. But I couldn’t let this go. Even more so because in the Lightweight B final my endurance team-mate was denied a place in the A final because somebody passed him by hitting him – did they get a penalty for it?
“I just can’t believe that the start wasn’t aborted. It is crazy.”
Eddie was eventually classified seventh in the race, two places ahead of reigning champion, Paul Hicks.
