The Kent based Powerboat Racing Team Jelf Racing are primed to continue their battle in the 2016 Powerboat GP British RYA Championship over the May Bank Holiday (28/29 May) as the series heads to St Helens for the Lancashire Grand Prix.
The Jelf Racing Team already lead the way in two of the seven Powerboat GP Championship classes, with Colin Jelf showing the way in the F2 Catamaran Class and son Ben Jelf reaffirming his top spot in the GT30 class, the team will be looking to maintain their top spots in both these classes and will also launch attacks on the top spots in the GT15 and F4 classes.
Junior driver’s Jonathan Brewer and George Elmore currently sit in third and fourth position in the GT15 class respectively and despite strong performances at the Lowestoft GP at the beginning of the month are disappointed not to be placed higher in the championship.
“We’ve spent the last few weeks looking for extra speed for Jono and George. Last year we were up there with Thomas but at Lowestoft both Thomas and Harvey had extra speed that we couldn’t find.” explains team manager Colin Jelf
“The boys both raced really hard but couldn’t catch the front runners. So we’ve gone back to testing different setups and props and hopefully at Lancashire we can find that extra speed and put some pressure on for the championship.”
Albeit leading the GT30 championship 15 year old Ben Jelf had some starting issues in the F4 catamaran class that he will be looking to rectify at the Lancashire Grand Prix. During qualifying there was less than half a second separating Ben from Championship leader Sam Whittle but starting issues meant Ben had to settle for 4th and has been working hard during testing to remedy the problem.
“We know the boat’s quick but we had an issue on the starts and it left me with too much to do in the races to get round the other racers as it’s a really competitive fleet. But we’ve spent time testing and the problem seems to be fixed so hopefully over the bank holiday weekend we can make up some valuable championship points and try and catch Sam.” Comments Ben Jelf
The Powerboat GP Lancashire Grand Prix commences on Saturday 28th May with timed practice session taking place from 10:00 for each class, where the Jelf Racing drivers will be fighting for that all-important pole position. In the afternoon, racing is set to start around 12:30 and each class will complete at least one race. A full day of action takes place the following day from 10:00.