Ben bags sixth British powerboat title in three years
Securing 2012 Powerboat GP RYA British GT15 Championship title
Peters & May Racing’s Ben Jelf (12, Maidstone) this weekend (22/23 Sept) secured his sixth British Powerboat Racing title in his third year of racing as he secured the 2012 Powerboat GP RYA British GT15 Championship.
Throughout the year 10 junior racers have been battling for the 2012 Powerboat GP GT15 Championship title in some exhilarating racing that have seen them compete at five venues across the country in their bid to becoming British Champions.
Blast off at Oulton Broad
The season started in Oulton Broad in May where Ben flew out of the starting blocks taking three heat wins to secure the 2012 Powerboat GP Oulton Broad Grand Prix and set himself firmly on the way to another British title.
The Lancashire Grand Prix over the Jubliee Bank Holiday weekend saw him once again dominate the fleet and secure the Grand Prix win in a succession of heat wins.
Busy summer
July and August proved busy months for the youngster as straight from winning the Kingsbury Grand Prix over the 14/15 July he headed to Estonia for the 2012 UIM European GT15 Championship where he retained his European crown. It was then onto Sweden for the UIM World GT15 Championships where he competed against 20 youngsters narrowly missing out on the World Title and forced to settle for the silver medal in his toughest competition to date.
Returning to home waters Ben competed for his fifth British title at the 2012 GT15 Sprint Championships where he once more remained dominant and secured three straight heat wins to be crowned 2012 Powerboat GP RYA British GT15 Sprint Champion.
The final round
The final round of the British Championship for the young racer would see him finish off another fantastic season at his own club at Stewartby in Bedford. For the final weekend of competition eight youngsters took to the water in the GT15 class.
Ben looked a certainty to retain his title but Charlotte Newton was not going to give up without a fight. However true to form Ben took pole position then three out of three heats wins to win the weekend and with it secure another British title in his young career.
Whilst Ben’s cousin and Peters & May Racing Team Mate Beth Stoneman (13, Chatham) was forced to watch proceedings from the shore after fracturing her thumb in a race at Nottingham the week prior.
It was left to Tiegen Goodfellow and Thomas Mantripp to go head to head for the silver and bronze medal positions in the championship with Charlotte Newton taking the weekends silver medal. Beth secured 6th Overall in the championship in her first season of racing and can’t wait to get back out on the water for 2013.
A great season
On his achievements for the year Ben had this to say “It’s been another great season and I’ve learnt a lot along the way. We’ve had some great battles amongst the British Racers and I’m sure they’ll all be out to beat me next season.”
He continued “Racing in Estonia and Sweden was a great experience for me and I’m very grateful for the opportunity to have gone. I wouldn’t have been able to without the support of my family, Team and Sponsors. So a huge thank you to all of Team Jelf Racing, Peters & May Racing, BS Motorsport, RacingBatteries.co.uk, Tohatsu Marine UK and Steel Developments without their support none of this would have been possible.”