GT15 and GT30 European Championships - Jelf takes to the podium twice

by RYA on 4 Sep 2014 Britain’s Ben Jelf (14, Maidstone) this weekend (30-31 August) was crowned the 2014 UIM GT30 European Powerboat Champion at the National Watersports Centre, Nottingham.

Over 50 competitors representing 11 countries battled it out in high octane action for three European Championship titles and one World Championship title.

Jelf who is now in his fifth year of international powerboat racing is a formidable name both on and off the water and not content with competing for just one European title, Jelf battled throughout the weekend for two of the championships up for grabs.

Jelf who this year has already secured his eighth British Powerboat Racing Championship title and represented Britain at both the GT30 World Championships in Poland and the GT15 World Championships in Czech Republic early in the year, knew he had a hard battle ahead of him at the European Championships despite being hotly tipped for podium finishes in both classes.

2014 saw Ben turn 14 and make the move from the junior Racing class GT15 into the more powerful class of GT30. Throughout the year he has competed in both classes in the British Championship and this weekend decided to make the challenge for both of the European Crowns.

'There’s a lot of work that goes into competing in one international class, in respects of setting up the boat so to take on the challenge of two classes was going to be hard work for all of us.

'I’m really lucky that I’ve got a dedicated team that were up for the challenge of both classes, it put pressure on us all not just me. I’m very grateful for the support and hard work the team put in to give me the opportunity this weekend', commented the youngster.

Qualifying for the GT15 European Class saw Ben fourth fastest on the grid and in a strong position, but he knew he still had everything to do if he was to be in with a chance of taking the GT15 European Crown.

A disastrous start in the first heat saw Ben left on the pontoon as the fleet of 16, 10-16 year olds powered towards the first turn. Finding himself at the back of the pack Ben was quickly making his way through the back markers and had quickly made his way up to eighth position but with lots of traffic and his British adversary Thomas Mantripp blocking his every attempt to get past, Ben had to settle for eighth when the chequered flag was waved.

Three more heats to compete in, with the best three of four to score, saw Ben take a fifth in heat two. Heat three saw the top two boats disqualified for colliding with each other on the last lap and Ben promoted to a second place finish a result he continued into the fourth and final race to see him secure the 2014 UIM European GT15 Bronze Medal position behind Estonia’s Gregor Eevardi and Latvia’s Uvis Lazarenoks who took the Gold and Silver medal positions respectively.

Determined to rectify the bad start in the GT15 heats, Ben went into the first heat of the GT30 championship even more determined to make his impact on the fleet.

Securing pole position from qualifying just 12 one hundredths of a second ahead of the GT30 World Champion Sara Pakalen, Ben knew she would capitalise on any mistake and would be pushing him throughout the whole race. Focussed as the start lights went out Ben powered away from the start but heading into the first turn Sara was nowhere to be seen instead it was Poland’s Marcin Szymczyk’s Red boat that was occupying Ben’s mirrors and shadowing his every turn.

Ben held Marcin at bay for both heats one and two leading from start to finish in both races, he was on track to secure his fourth European title. But Ben’s luck took a turn for the worst when in the third heat his boat failed to start when the lights went out and Ben watched the fleet power away from the start. A second attempt to start and Ben had everything to do if he was to hold onto his European lead. Picking his way through the 10 boat fleet Ben made quick work of making it up to fifth position where Britain’s Charlotte Newton held him at bay for a couple of laps until he managed to edge past her to finish in fourth.

Meanwhile Latvia’s Marcin made the most of the absence of Ben to secure the third heat win and put him in strong contention for the European Title, it was all to play for in the fourth and final heat and it would take skill and determination from both drivers to see who took the crown.

As the lights went out for the final heat start and the boats powered into the first turn, spectators and team mates waited anxiously as the fleet rounded the first turn to see who would take the lead. As the spray settled Ben Jelf was in third place with Sara Pakalen leading the fleet and Marcin in second pushing her with every metre of the course. Ben’s European title chances were out of his control. A third place finish would only be good enough if the World Champion could keep her lead.

With a point to prove herself after missing the first heat and a podium finish still up for grabs Sara Pakalen led from start to finish holding the Latvian off to secure the final heat win and book herself the final Podium spot in the European Championship.

Two heat wins and a third place finish saw an ecstatic 14 year old Ben Jelf secure his fourth UIM European Championship and his first International title in the GT30 class.

'I thought the third heat had cost me the title' commented the newly crowned European Champion.

'Marcin has driven fantastically all weekend we’ve pushed each other every step of the way so when I saw he was in front of me in the final heat I thought it was all over! I just focussed on finishing the race in the best position I could hoping to hold onto a medal position. But he had his work cut out if he was going to pass Sara she’s very quick and a very good driver there’s no way she’d give up a race lead easily and luckily for me she held him off,' complimented Ben.

On securing his fourth European Championship the youngster gave praise to his family and team; 'I’m really happy to have taken the European Championship, the team have worked so hard in both classes and at the World Championships luck wasn’t in our favour and everything that could go wrong seemed to.

'When you’re out on the water yes it’s down to you and your skill to win the race but there’s so much more that goes into winning and being a champion and it’s the work and dedication the whole team put in that secures titles. I’m just one part of the winning team and I wouldn’t be able to do my bit without a fantastic team and sponsors behind me. So this one’s for them!'

For more information visit Jelf Racing RYA website