2013-12-09 09:17:19.2
Eddie’s run of victories in the Open championship finally came to an end on Sunday as he and his Avit Racing team mates came home second at round five of the championship at Rye House. The team were looking on course for a fourth straight win before a backmarker from Turbo Max punted Harry Landy off during the middle phase of the race.
It was once again up to Eddie to qualify and he put the team 5th on the grid in the 31 strong grid. Although a good starting position, Eddie admitted to being disappointed afterwards and said he expected to be higher.
Glen took the start and got the team into a net second before handing over to Harry, who continued to make inroads into the lead. Eddie was again tasked with doing the two 30 minute stints and took the lead in the pit stops.
The second half of the race was highlighted by an epic battle for the lead between Harry Landy and the Five Gloves team – the two swapping places several times before Landy was removed from the action by a back marker.
The team lost the best part of a lap with this incident but Glen Beard and Eddie Hall managed to claw back lost time and, with a combination of track speed and slick pit stops, crossed the line 35 seconds behind the eventual winners.
Eddie admitted to being disappointed to see the run of wins come to an end but admitted to relief at finishing second.
“It’s obviously frustrating to lose the race because of backmarker incompetence but I suppose these things happen. I think without that we would have probably won because our pit stops were so good. It would have been close because I think Five Gloves had the edge on us today in outright speed but second is still good and we’re still at the head of the championship with three races left so we’re looking strong.”
Eddie will be in action next at the Clay Pigeon circuit in Dorset for round 7 of the Premier Championship at the beginning of September.
