2013-12-09 09:17:19.2
Eddie continued with his recent run of form by securing another solid A final result at Ellough Park. This is Eddie’s fourth A final of the season, equalling last years total. It is also his third in succession.
Eddie lined up 10th on the grid for the first heat of the day. With only 50 competitors racing, this meant more practice laps and longer qualifying heats. Eddie made the most of this by finishing a solid 5th. This result could have been even better but he got stuck behind rookie Michael Thurston and could not pass him.
“Michael had probably the widest kart on the track today and there seemed to be several of him on the track too. I came across him in every race! He was not slow by any means and he was very fair when defending – he certainly didn’t do anything wrong! It was just that, for me anyway, he was driving at that annoying speed where he was holding me up but he was too quick to pass easily.”
Starting third on the grid for heat 2, Eddie once again got stuck behind Thurston and lost out to the likes of Stuart Symonds and the aggressive Dave Lewis, who did better jobs of passing the slower driver. Eddie then got embroiled in a very close battle for third with Thurston, Lewis and Bodnar. The latter trio were nose to tail for most of the heat and crossed the line almost three abreast. It all got a bit messy as they crossed the line as Eddie explained afterwards.
“We were all getting a bit frustrated stuck behind Michael, Dave got passed me in typically aggressive style and we were pretty much wheel-to-wheel for most of the heat. Coming out of the last corner the guy behind me tried to squeeze his kart through a literally inch wide gap, I tried to go up the inside of Dave and he was trying to go up the inside of Michael. This caused a sort of domino affect and we all crossed the line pretty much sitting in each others kart.
”This obviously didn’t sit well with Dave ‘short fuse’ Lewis, who spent the entire slowing down lap gesticulating and staring daggers at me. I was all ready to tell him to shut up and not be such a baby but Steve dart got to him first and explained that the contact wasn’t my fault. It was all pretty harmless contact anyway and very enjoyable.”
Heat 3 was pretty uneventful. Eddie started down in 13th and managed this time to get ahead of Thurston off the line. He then had a pretty lonely run to 8th.
These results put Eddie comfortably in the A final in 15th position. After a frantic start, Eddie wisely hung back and stayed out of trouble. In a kart which had poor bottom end and would not accelerate out of corners, Eddie did a good job to keep up with Club100 legend Tim Hill and Monaco podium finisher, “Ultimate Champion” Dave Peathers.
Thurston would again play a part as he steamed passed Eddie and then Peathers. Forcing Peathers wide, this allowed Eddie to get passed both of them. Another coming together with Dave Peathers resulted in Thurston spinning off at the hairpin. By this time Eddie was clear and finished a respectable 17th.
“It was a pretty good day. If I had taken more risks in the heats I could have started even higher up the grid. That was really where I lost out today – I just wasn’t as assertive in overtaking. Other than that I was more than impressed with the day. I raced with most of the top guys again today and kept them honest. Even in a kart that wouldn’t accelerate out of corners in the final I was keeping two big names honest.”
