Jelf Racing Team

The Final 2 rounds of the 2010 F2 World Championship were held on Lake Viverone in Italy on the 11 & 12 September 2010. A beautiful town, Viverone proved to be the perfect setting for the final 2 rounds of the Championship with the preparations being overseen by former F1  Driver – Fabrizio Bocca and the Italian National Authority – FIM.

With 2 rounds of the championship being held within 2 days, the pressure was on the teams and officials to complete the races and declare the 2010 F2 World Champion.

In perfect conditions, qualifying got under way for the first race which saw an all out battle between Italy’s Ivan Brigada, Sweden’s Erik Stark, and Italy’s Paolo Zantelli. The new rig of Erik Stark proved to be the surprise of the day when he qualified 2^nd using the new ‘green’ SST200 Mercury Optimax Engine.  Ivan Brigada eventually took pole position, followed by Erik Stark, Paolo Zantelli and Rupp Temper from Austria.

With qualifying completed, there was a short interval before all of the fleet lined up to start to 1^st race in Viverone.

In perfect race conditions, the red lights went out and the fleet roared away from the starting dock. With the championship ‘wide open’  the drivers went all out the gain the important 1^st turn positions – only for it to end in disaster when 5 of the top boats were involved in a spectacular crash.

Due to the scale of the accident and damage that had been caused, the officials were left with no other choice than to stop the race while the rescue teams were frantically trying to make sure that all of the drivers were ok.

Thankfully, due to excellent safety standards within our sport – all drivers were ok with no serious injuries, just a few bumps and bruises. The main damage was to the boats which meant that none of the drivers involved in the accident could re-start the race.

After a long delay caused by the clear-up operation, the race was started again and this time everyone passed the first turn without incident. With some of the serious championship contenders out of the race and a first lap mistake from the race leader Ivan Brigada – which led to his disqualification, the race was won by the reigning World Champion Johan Coenradi from the Netherlands, followed by Poland’s Bartlomiej Marszalek and Itay’s Lorenzo Grossi with all drivers putting in an impressive performance.

Day 2 saw the 3^rd and final round of the F2 World Championship take place.

Although Johan Coenradi was a clear leader in the points there was still a chance of a championship win for some of the drivers involved in the previous day’s accident. After working long into the night, the damaged Hulls of the Jelf team were patched up and ready to take part in the final race. The hull of Yousef Al Rubyan from Kuwait was too badly damaged to be repaired. Due to being in a strong position in the points his team purchased the new DAC that was being driven by Ivan Brigada.

The final qualifying got under way with no problems, and all memories of the previous days difficulties were forgotten by the drivers as they gave it their all in trying to gain those all important grid positions. Italy’s Paolo Zantelli finally gained pole position, followed by the UK’s Colin Jelf, Kuwait’s Yousef Al Rubyan and Latvia’s Uvis slakteris.

With nothing to lose – the drivers lined up for the final race of 2010 and delivered a first class show for the army of eager Spectators. After a blistering start, Paolo Zantelli & Colin Jelf pulled a clear lead away from the rest of the field that remained throughout the entire race, resulting in them finishing a lap ahead of the whole fleet. Yousef Al Rubyan also had a fantastic start, along with Johan Coenradi,  Uvis Slakteris and Lorenzo Grossi. Another impressive performance of the day came from France’s Beranger Robert who finished in 6^th Place.

After a difficult season, of races being cancelled and dates being changed, the F2 World Champion was once again awarded to the Netherland’s Johan Coenradi, who after a strong and steady season drive collected enough points to once again be crowned champion with 38 points. Joint 2^nd was awarded to Kuwait’s Yousef Al Rubyan & Italy’s Paolo Zantelli - both with 32 points, 3^rd was UK’s Colin Jelf with 30 Points.

2011 looks to be a more promising season for the UIM F2 World Championship, with more races confirmed and the exciting introduction of the ‘green’ SST200 Engine. We await the coming season with interest to see who will be crowned the 2011 F2 World Champion, and all bets are on the drivers with the new engines !

For round 3 of the British national championships all of the circuit drivers headed to the Midlands Powerboat Club (MPRC) in Kingsbury.

After racing was postponed on Saturday for JT250 due to high winds, they only managed to qualify on Saturday with Charlotte Gilbert on pole, Natalie Craddock 2^nd, Ben Jelf 3^rd, Lauren Gilderdale 4^th and Charlotte Newton 5^th.

With the pressure on the young drivers to race 3 heats on Sunday – the weather finally improved and the racing was able to go ahead.

In heat 1 Ben Jelf blasted away from the jetty and went straight into the lead closely followed by Charlotte, Natalie & Lauren. Charlotte Newton was unable to make the start due to technical problems.  Ben kept his cool and crossed the finish line as the winner.

In heat 2 Ben started from Pole position and again maintained his lead throughout the race although he seemed to lose some pace on lap 3 allowing Charlotte Gilbert to try and challenge him for 1^st Position. Luckily Ben held his nerve and managed to hold off Charlotte.

In the 3^rd and final heat Ben once again powered away on the start and into the lead. A few rookie mistakes from Ben meant that Charlotte Gilbert very nearly took the lead away again from him, but this seemed to spur Ben on to put his foot down and go for it. Charlotte eventually retired with engine problems which meant that Natalie Craddock was 2^nd with Lauren Gilderdale 3^rd.

After winning all 3 heats- Ben was the clear winner of the weekend with Charlotte Gilbert 2^nd, Natalie Craddock 3^rd, Lauren Gilderdale 4^th in only her 2nd National race and Charlotte Newton 5^th after being plagued by engine problems all weekend.

In the S:850 (F4) Class – Jelf Crew members Graham & Matt Palfreyman had a mixed bag of results with a 2^nd overall for Graham, a fantastic result and a disappointing weekend for Matt who failed to finish a heat after being plagued with engine problems. Stephen Batch took another straight win with Scott Curtis finishing 3^rd.

The OSY400 racing featured a battle between Luke Hugman and James Bowman. Luke hooked in heat 3 , James avoided a collision by rolling damaging his hull. The repaired boat was back in action for heat 4 but James flipped in spectacular fashion on a roller on the start finish straight ending his weekend. A very happy Luke took his first national win in the OSY class in his first season. With James Marr 2nd and Tony Knights 3rd. Battles all down the field made the OSYs the class of the weekend to watch

The T850 race was won by Pete Mantripp from Mike Pillow. Some great entertainment as the water became very choppy.  Steff Gilderdale avoided a soaking after nearly rolling at the top turn but is proving to be getting to grips with her boat.

The outboard races saw a superb display from Julian Codling ahead of Nigel Edwards and Kevin Turner with Wayne Turner running the 350 Konig this weekend.

GT30 saw a welcome return to racing by Nick Walsh who proved a natural in the class, winning all 3 heats followed by Ben Morse & Sam Whittle.

Winners from the Weekend :

JT250 – Ben Jelf

GT30 – Nick Walsh

T:850 – Peter Mantripp

S:850 – Stephen Batch

OSY400 : Luke Hugman

Outboard Hydro : Julian Codling

The final of the RYA British National Championship will take place on the 26/27 September at Stewartby Watersports Club.

The individual National Sprint Championship will take place on the 31 July/01 August also at Stewartby Watersports Club.

Jelf Racing Team are all very proud of Ben for coming so far and exceeding our expectations in such a short space of time. Whatever happens, we think you a star !

A big thank you to all at MPRC and well done to all the drivers who took part.

Yousef Al Rubayan of Kuwait wins the UIM F2 World Championship – Hungary GP !

Official Press Release :

After weeks of speculation and a full weekend of events, the UIM F2 World Championship – GP of Hungary finally got under way at 16.00 CET.

With minutes to go before the start of the race, the weather conditions changed with the earlier winds disappearing leaving the drivers exposed to the intense Hungarian heat.

With the start lights out and full ‘pedal to the metal’ 16 of the world’s best drivers roared into action and did not fail to please the thousands of spectators when before the first turn Local Hungarian Driver Laszlo Kovacs , German Nick Bisterfeld and France’s Philippe Tourre had a crash. Unfortunately for Nick & Laszlo their race was over but Tourre was able to continue. Yellow Flags and quick reactions from the Officials saw both boats recovered quickly and the drivers unhurt.

Yousef Al Rubayan continued to lead the field of drivers under the yellow flag, followed by Erik Stark and current F2 World Champion Johan Coenradi who both had excellent starts and were in 2^nd & 3^rd Position.

Just a couple of laps later the tensions were running high and the race was re-started, only for Latvian Uvis Slakteris & Italian Ivan Brigada to have separate spectacular accidents, with Ivan Brigada flying high and missing the dock wall by inches.  Thankfully both drivers were unhurt, but both boats took some time to recover due to the scale of the damage.

By lap 15 the race was well underway again with Yousef still leading Erik Stark, Johan Coenradi and Colin Jelf.  On lap 34 the British driver Colin Jelf challenged Johan Coenradi for 3^rd position and managed to take 3rd, leaving Johan and Owen Jelf to continue fighting for 4^th position. On lap 36 Erik Stark seemed to run into trouble on a turn buoy leaving the Jelf brothers the opportunity to take 2^nd & 3^rd.

With a few laps to go, Colin managed to catch up with leading man Yousef Al Rubayan, but the cool man from Kuwait had nothing to worry about with power to spare he eased his boat effortlessly across the finish line winning the UIM F2 World Championship GP of Hungary much to the delight of his Port Ghalib Team and thousands of fans across the world.

Other notable performances of the day were new Driver Rupp Temper from Austria who found himself in 6^th race position after starting 15^th on the grid and Local Hungarian driver Bela Cserni who finished 8^th after starting from 16^th on the grid – much to the delight of local crowds.

After such a highly action packed race, the inevitable penalties were issued by the officials. Philippe Tourre of France received a Yellow Card and Disqualification for his part in the accident involving Laszlo Kovacs & Nick Bisterfeld along with Sweden’s Erik Stark who also received a Yellow card + Disqualification for his part in Ivan Brigada’s accident. The 3^rd disqualification was directed at Polish Driver Bartek Marszalek for rounding the turn the wrong way. A disappointment for all drivers involved after the impressive performances they gave all weekend.

With the most exciting F2 race in years drawing to a close, the drivers are fired up and ready for the next round in Stockholm, Sweden on the 10^th & 11^th July. The boats will be repaired and ready to battle again !

Yousef Al Rubayan now leads the UIM F2 World Championship 2010, with British drivers Colin & Owen Jelf 2^nd & 3^rd and current F2 World Champion Netherlands Johan Coenradi in 4^th.

All of the drivers and teams extend their thanks to the Hungarian National Authority, the Rescue, the Timing Team and the UIM Officials for working to ensure the event was a complete success.

Paolo Zantelli Wins the Match Race & Erik Stark Wins the Speed Record !

After a gruelling day of practice and Qualifying, 8 of the F2 drivers took the waters of Dunaujvaros for the traditional F2 ‘Speed Record’ & ‘Match Race’ which is held at each event.

First up was the speed record, which saw young Swedish driver Erik Stark victorious after setting an awesome speed of 173 KM/h on the 2 pin circuit. He was closely followed by France’s Philippe Tourre with 172 KM/h and British Driver Colin Jelf with a 171 KM/h time.

It was an unlucky speed record attempt for Latvian Driver Uvis Slakteris & British Driver Owen Jelf who were both Disqualified for passing on the wrong side of the Radar Gun.  A small mistake with a big cost as both drivers were very quick.

Next up was the match race where the drivers race in groups of 2 in a head to head battle. The winner from each race moves into the next heat and the races continually run until a winner is declared.

After some great racing the final 2 heats saw Uvis Slakteris Vs Owen Jelf for 3^rd position, with the talented Latvian Driver winning and taking the 3^rd place overall.

The exciting final of Paolo Zantelli Vs Colin Jelf did not disappoint the crowds, with a nail biting ‘photo finish’ past the chequered flag. After some debate the officials awarded the win to Paolo with Colin settling for 2^nd place – there was just a few CM difference.

With the day’s activities drawing to a close, all eyes are on tomorrow’s main race. Impressive speeds have been recorded and with such close match racing - we could be in for some surprising results at the end of tomorrows Hungarian F2 Grand Prix !

Please contact the Hungarian National Authority for more information :

Hungarian Powerboat Federation (Hungary N.A.)

Address: 2, Epitok str, Dunaújváros H-2400 Hungary

Tel/fax: +36 25 500-477,

Fax:+36 25 581-520

E-mail: mmvsz@dunanet.hu

Secretary: Mrs. Andrea Nyíri

See Below for results

* Boats passed on the wrong side of the radar gun

Yousef Al Rubayan leads the way in Qualifying !

Surprise qualifying performances of the day came from Italy’s Paolo Zantelli, who has made a welcome return to F2 after a 5 year absence. Always a top contender, Paolo is straight back on the pace and snapping at Yousef’s heels, matching his qualifying time of 44.22

Bartek Marszalek also produced an impressive performance after finally getting to grips with his new BABA hull while former 3 times world Champion Colin Jelf also proved to be well into the mix by missing pole by 0.01 of a second with a 44.23 lap.

Current world champion Johan Coenradi of the Netherlands has to settle for 9^th on the grid after battling engine gremlins all morning while local Hungarian driver Laszlo Kovacs settles for 14^th on the grid while he struggles to get to grips with his new boat.

With such close qualifying times, tomorrow’s main race looks to bring an exciting spectacle for the hundreds of spectators and fans around the world will be eagerly awaiting the outcome.

Who will win ?? It’s still impossible to predict !

Ends

UIM F2 Speed Record & Match Race will take place this afternoon at 17.00 local time ( GMT+2)

 R1 : UIM F2 World Championship - Hungary 12 & 13 June 2010

After an absence of nearly 8 years the F2 World Championship returns to the beautiful city of Dunaujvaros where the best F2 drivers in the world will battle it out in the hope of having a successful start to their 2010 season.

Among this year’s contenders, current F2 World Champion Johan Coenradi from the Netherlands will be going all out this year to retain his title with a brand new DAC hull which has proven very quick in testing.  Fast on Johan’s heels will be Uvis Slakteris from Latvia, fresh from his victory in the recent Scandinavian race in Denmark and previous 3 times world champion Colin Jelf from the UK who will also be looking to take back the title in 2010. All three drivers finished within 3 points of each other last year – a very close result.

Also back in the mix is Yousef Al Rubayan and the Port Ghalib team from Kuwait. Yousef has been testing very hard all winter and is ready to repeat last season’s success when he was crowned the F2 Continental Champion in Fujairah. Ivan Brigada from Italy is also back in 2010 after an awesome performance in 2009 when he returned to F2. Joining him will be fellow Italian Paolo Zantelli who makes a welcome return to F2 after a long absence.

Swedish Drivers Erik Stark & Johan Osterberg will also be returning in 2010 after they were both involved in a huge accident in Fujairah 2009. Both Drivers are fit and well and judging by the impressive performances in 2009 could prove to be major contenders for the F2 title.

Local Hungarian drive Laszlo Kovacs is hoping for glory on his home water after he was plagued with bad luck in the 2009 season and will be joined by veteran driver Bela Cserni who is also making a welcome return to F2. They will surely be ones to watch in Dunuajvaros.

UK driver Owen Jelf will also be looking towards taking the F2 Title after testing hard for the last few months, along with Bartek Marszelak from Poland who finally got to grips with his new BABA hull at the end of 2009 and could prove a huge threat as a contender for the championship.

Another new face in F2 this year will be Rupp Temper from Austria. Rupp is a former F3 Veteran and will be looking to bring his skills to F2 and have a competitive season. Nick Bisterfeld from Team Germany will also be making a return in 2010 and it is hoped that this young and talented German driver can make his mark in F2 this year.

Beranger Robart from France also returns to F2 in 2010 after a fairly successful rookie year in 2009, he will be joined by fellow countryman Philippe Tourre who always proves to be one to watch out for with years of experience.

The ‘Fast Fin’ Mikki Forrs will also be making a return to the F2 World Championship in 2010 and after competing in the Scandinavian Championship and winning the F2 European Championship he will be eager to make his presence felt in Dunaujvaros.

The Hungarian National Authority looks forward to welcoming the F2 Teams and drivers and hopes that everyone has a safe and successful race. Many hours have work have been completed to make the event run as smooth as possible.

With so many different nationalities, old and new drivers, new boats and new attitude it’s impossible to predict the results from this eagerly anticipated race – the F2 World Championship for now is wide open and we just have to wait and see what happens when the chequered flag is waived!

For regular news from the event – please follow us on our facebook page :  UIM F2 World Championship

Please contact the Hungarian National Authority for more information :

It's very rare that the heat of the field increases after the red lights go off at the start of a race, but that's what happened in the opening round of the 2010 Nordic Championship and Scandinavian F2 Open in Horsens, Denmark.

2009 Scandinavian Champion - Riga Powerboat Teamdriver Uvis Slakteris being in leading position was chased by last year UIM F2 World Champion Johan Coenradi from Holland Boatsport Racing Team who is driving with a brand new DAC boat, made by 10^th time UIM F1 World Champion Guido Cappellini.

Both rivals tried to catch up Swede Erik Stark from GeTel Racing and Englishman Owen Jelf from Jelf Racing. Stark had made his way through to fill 3rd place ahead of Jelf. Good results also showed by Norvegians Rich Ivar Hakonsen from Scandinavian Challengers, returning back after a one year brake and Mette Bjerknaes from Bjerknaes Racing, respectively secured 5th and 6th place.

It was a close battle between old adversaries Slakteris and Coenradi. Also last year they tried to beat each other. Latvian driver won Danish Grand Prix second time in a row with reserve boat because his battle horse is still waiting to be shipped from Saudi Arabia to Europe.  

This time Horsens is my lucky place. I was stressed during the race, but very happy when I won it! This season had started successfully. There had been a lot of feelings and obstacles during the weekend. Without tight fight between drivers and choppy water, my team was forced to resolve technical problems with a piston. We changed it, but we were not sure that the engine will last out until the end of race. Everything was fine and I could not wish tom get more in so high professional racing level, said lucky winner Slakteris after the race.    

Mother Earth produced hot sunshine and just a gentle cool breeze for the duration of the race which was enjoyed by a large crowd of local enthusiasts. Series promoter Leif Ahlborg thanks to everybody and welcome back next year.

Grand Prix of Denmark:                                                                Time

1.Uvis Slakteris/Riga Powerboat Team, Latvia/Molgaard                  17:01,67

2.Johan Coenradi/Holland Boatsport Racing Team, Holland/DAC   17:04,23

3.Erik Stark/GeTel Racing, Sweden/DAC                                         17:07,12

4.Owen Jelf/Jelf Racing, UK/Molgaard                                             17:21,74

5.Rick IvarHakonsen/Scandinavian Chalengers, Norway/BABA    17:28,81

6.Mette Bjerknes/Bjerknes Racing, Norway/Molgaard                      17:30,54

Ben Jelf 2nd in 1st race of the season !

With a month of the 2010 season gone already it has been a busy period for the team. Ben has been testing hard at our home club with impressive progress being made with his new FSG/Winrace JT250 boat. He has also been to Carr Mill and won the first club race of the year at the Lancashire club.

Colin has been busy developing Ben's boat and doing some major repairs to his boat in preparation for the F2 season ahead. Owen has collected his British Championship trophy at the RYA Awards Dinner. He has also confirmed his entry at he F2 race in Horsens, Demark on the 22nd of May. Where he and Colin will be completing an early season 'shakedown' ahead of a busy World Champs calendar.

This weekend coming on the 2nd and 3rd of May, Ben will completing in his 1st National race of this season at the Oulton Broad club.

Matt