2013-12-09 09:17:19.2
Eddie ended the 2006/2007 Winter Championship on a high by claiming his first podium finish of the series with a fine third place in the final round. For the first time in this four round championship, Eddie had an incident free race and no mechanical failures.
Starting fifth on the grid, Eddie once again made a good start to move straight up to fourth at the first corner. He moved ahead of Steve Brown Jr to take third on lap 4 and the two proceeded to have a race long battle for third. They swapped places several times over the course of the one-hour race, with Eddie just managing to hold him off by less than half a second.
While the leaders Jack Harding and Michael Epps disappeared into the distance, Eddie conceded that third place was the best he could hope for after the race.
“All of the top guys are about half my weight so it’s always going to be difficult to beat them where there is no minimum weight limit. I had to drive harder than normal to keep ahead of Steve and I was using every trick I knew to keep him behind me. It was a real challenge because I could see him sitting right behind me for most of the race and towards the end I was willing the chequered flag to come out.”
In the end, however, the race was red-flagged just before the finish due to an accident at the bottom of Café Curve.
“I have to admit that I was not unhappy to see the red flag appear!”
This third place put placed Eddie fifth in the championship. Although happy with the result, Eddie acknowledged that he could have been even higher.
“Had I not been taken out at round one and not had the engine go at round two, or the puncture last time out I reckon I would have finished third in the championship. Still, these are big if’s and I don’t particularly want to start thinking about what might have been. I achieved my goal of finishing in the top 6 and I also had a lot of fun, which is important.”
Eddie was also quick to praise the BPKDC and, in particular, Alan Wood. “I said before that I think Alan does a great job in running these championships. They are friendly and there is a great atmosphere. I hope to come back and do one or two races in the summer if the budget will allow – even if they are non-championship rounds.”
