2013-12-09 09:17:19.2
It was another very mixed weekend for Eddie at the third round of the 2009 season at Whilton Mill. A good result in the Endurance race on Saturday, narrowly missing out on a podium finish, was overshadowed by his worst result in the new format sprint championship and his second failure to qualify for the final in less than a year.
Saturday
Only a minor tweak to the kart in practice meant that the team were happy with their machinery. Marc Laukam qualified well in ninth and made a great start to run well in the top five for much of his run. Chris Bell went out for a double stint in the middle phase of the race and drove an absolutely awesome race, setting second fastest lap of the day and putting the team firmly in a podium position before handing over to Eddie for the final phase.
Sadly, Eddie couldn’t hold onto the position and lost out to Brenton Miller towards the end. The team narrowly missed out on a podium after a controversial last lap pit stop from Essex TT meant that they left the pits without taking on fuel and pipped Target Racing by just over 2 seconds at the flag.
“Generally it was a good race. Chris, especially, drove a blinder today. Sadly I wasn’t quite on the pace today so I really cost us what could have been second. I don’t think I drove any worse than I normally would; it’s just that I wasn’t quite on the pace of Marc and Chris. To be honest, this is what I expected at the beginning of the year and it’s nice to be in a team now where I’ve got a challenge from my team mates because I think it will push me to perform better.”
Eddie was disappointed to have been pipped for third but accepted the decision not to penalise Essex TT.
“Well Club100 took the blame for it claiming that Tony (the fuel guy) hadn’t been made aware of the regulation change that banned splash and dash stops this year. I’ve got to accept it and, although I’ve been ribbing the Essex boys, I’m sure we would have been happy to have benefited if things had been the other way around. It is a real shame because we would have been on the podium today. Still, we’ve shown the pace all year and I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before we get there.”
Sunday
Eddie was looking to kick start his championship campaign but, alas, this event would only serve to worsen the 2009 sprint season. An engine seizure and two accidents in the last two heats left Eddie languishing down in 18th in the B final. Desperate to fight his way into the top four and qualify for the A final, Eddie was again involved in a first lap accident and drove back to the pits without even completing a lap. Eddie gave his account of the day after the race:
“The day started OK. I lined up fourth in the first heat and thought it would be an easy win from there. I got up to second on the first lap and was lining up to take the lead when the engine started to lose power after a couple of laps. I dropped several seconds and Simon Young managed to get past me before the engine seized completely coming down the hill.
“My second heat was going well until I got shoved off at the first corner. It was in exactly the same place that I got taken out last year so fortunately I knew where the gap in the wall was this time!
I knew I had to finish in the top six to guarantee a place in the A final in my last heat so starting near the back I had a lot of work to do. I got stuck behind a couple of mobile chicanes and then Jack Harding tried passing round the outside of the corner after the hairpin. I backed off to let him go and avoid contact but someone hot me from behind and we both spun. I picked up a penalty as well so that really screwed me.
“The final was just crap really. I knew the chances of making the final were almost non-existent starting from way back there but I made a cracking start and gained a few places off the line. Coming down the hill into the hairpin, a few guys spun off and I don’t know whether I locked up or was hit but either way I was out. I just parked up.”
Despite his awful luck, Eddie still seemed in surprisingly good spirits after the event.
“To be honest, I actually found it all quite funny. When I spun in the B final I just thought ‘what a perfect end to a shitty day’ and parked up because I knew it would be a dropped score. The sad thing is that this is three races and I’ve now pretty much used up my three dropped scores. Given the level of competition at the front now, my championship hopes are pretty much screwed already. It leaves me with a lot to think about!”
