2013-12-09 09:17:19.2
Eddie raced in the Ironman 1 hour Prokart endurance event at Buckmore Park on Sunday and enjoyed the experience, despite suffering burning injuries to his hands from the heavy vibrations.
Eddie qualified 15th out of 38 and was the third highest rookie on the grid. After a good start, where Eddie took to the grass on the inside to gain several places at turn 1, he was squeezed out at the hairpin and dropped down the order. For the next six or seven laps, Eddie dropped back to about 18th place, struggling with the handling of the heavy twin engined prokart. Once he found a decent line, Eddie set about the people in front of him. At about half distance, he was running as high as twelfth and was lapping under half a second slower than the leaders.
Enjoying many terrific battles with the mid-fielders, including several aggressive lunges, Eddie settled down comfortably in 16th place. He held this position until 5 laps from the end when a backmarker wedged his bumper into Eddie's wheel and Eddie dropped to 20th.
Despite this disappointment, Eddi was pleased with the drive. "I really just wanted to do an endurance race and see if my years of running, bike riding and gym work would pay off. I think they have!
"I was having great fun, despite the karts handling not being to my liking. Because of the heavy engines on the back, you get turn-in oversteer but oversteer on the exit of corners. I had to adjust my line to accomodate this which is why I was quite slow in the early stages. Still, they were fun to drive and I could pull off overtaking moves that I wouldn't have considered trying in a 100cc because these things seemed impossible to spin!
"The other problem is the vibrations. At the end of the start straight I couldn't feel my hands and and I ended up with several big blisters. Nevertheless I enjoyed the racing and hope to do it again next year. But I'd choose a 100cc kart any day!"
Eddie next races at Whilton Mill on June 30th. Visit www.club100.co.uk to view details of the event.
