2013-12-09 09:17:19.2
A day that started out with such promise ended in disappointment as Eddie’s 2010 racing campaign was wrecked with a heavy impact in the wall at the flat-out Stadium bend at Rye House.
There was drama before the event even started as Eddie almost didn’t even get to the circuit as he explained in his usual diplomatic way.
“There had been some sort of incident and the police had blocked the end of my road and weren’t letting any cars through so I couldn’t even get out of my road. I then had to run across town in my racing gear to use another car. Bloody stupid and completely illogical, especially as the road was completely clear. Still, you can’t expect anything else from plastic plods and definitely not in the pathetically bureaucratic nanny-state that is England.”
Back to the racing and Eddie was well on the pace in practice. Qualifying was ruined by yellow flags and traffic and Eddie could only line up in 7th and was disappointed not to be higher.
At the start, he made a good start but was bumped down the order by an overzealous Zac Seward at the first hairpin and did well not to spin when he was punted at the second hairpin. Nevertheless he made up several places over the 10 minute heat and finished 6th.
“The start was typical Rye House really. I was a little apprehensive about starting alongside Zac because we have a bit of a history at Rye. He’s knocked me a bout a few times at the start here, including ripping my ignition off when trying to hump my kart once so I wasn’t at all surprised to see him diving me at the first hairpin. After that, I just plugged away and tried to make up as much time as I could.”
Lining up 6th for heat 2, Eddie again made a solid start and remained in touch with the leaders. After another tussle with Seward at the start, he passed Dan Gore, Glen Beard and Rich Higham and was running third and catching the leaders. With 2 laps to go, a backmarker spun at Stadium and pulled water on to the flat out-entry. As the leaders came through, they all slid on the damp and crashed into the tyre wall. Eddie’s kart went in sideways and mounted the tyres. Eddie hit his head hard on the tyre wall but fared better than Higham who ended up the other side of the barrier.
Limping back to the pits with a broken exhaust and suffering from mild whiplash, Eddie had his kart repaired and lined up in 12th for the final. Alas, his day went from bad to worse as he was hit off at the first hairpin by Tim Clark and dropped to the rear of the field.
He nevertheless carried on and made short work of the backmarkers and mid-field runners and came home 15th.
“A real shame really because I should have been right up there at the front where I would have missed all the carnage. The accident in heat two was a big one and the hardest impact I’ve had for a number of years. I’ve got a very sore neck and mild whiplash I think and my head really hurts. I think I’m going to feel that tomorrow. Still, the final was fun. I obviously wasn’t firing on all cylinders because my head hurt but it was fun battling my way through the field. I was wondering when I would be fired off at the hairpin so it was expected really. I think I’m going to start a group on facebook to petition Rye House to name that corner after me.”
