2013-12-09 09:17:19.2
It was another frustrating day for the outgoing Inters champions as they again struggled for pace and managed only 5th in the Clubman race and 14th overall.
For once the team didn’t need to change their kart in practice but did need work doing to repair a rear wheel bearing that had worked loose.
Despite the kart handling well, it was obvious that they were again struggling for pace as Eddie explains. “As at Bayford two weeks ago, the kart felt pretty good but there was obviously something wrong because I was struggling to make any kind of impression during practice and didn’t seem to be able to match the pace of people I normally expect to beat easily.”
It was again decided to let Eddie qualify and, as at Bayford, it highlighted the lack of pace as the team lined up a lowly 22nd out of 24!
”To be honest, this time it was partially down to me. I made a couple of small mistakes on both my flying laps at the exit of Stadium corner – missing the apex, and into the first hairpin – just carrying too much speed in.”
Stephen started the race and immediately made up ground on the karts in front. He was aided by a huge pile-up on the second lap, which took out main championship rivals II2BI and promoted Stephen to 10th overall. It soon became evident that he was struggling with the pace of the kart, however, as he dropped back.
Ian Miller took over for the second stint and maintained a solid performance in the mid-field. At this time, II2BI were on a massive charge from the earlier incident, clawing back a 2 lap deficit.
Eddie did the middle stint and it was much of the same. He spent most of the stint in a train of karts, largely with the Premier class teams. There was a bit of a drama at the next fuel stop as Eddie explained.
“Basically I cross-threaded the fuel cap when I started my stint and I spent the first couple of laps losing a small amount of fuel. I struggled to get the cap off when I came in, which cost us a few seconds but fortunately didn’t affect our finishing position.”
The second half of the race was uneventful. The trio continued to struggle for pace compared to their nearest rivals and II2BI continued to close the gap, finishing just 10 seconds behind at the flag, having clawed their way back from 2 laps behind.
