The 2nd round of the 2012 GT15 British RYA Championships got underway in Lancashire over the Bank Holiday weekend (2/3 June) with GT15 reigning World & British Champion Ben Jelf (11, Kent UK) once again holding on to the top spot with rookie team-mate Beth Stoneman (13, Kent UK) coming 5th overall.

Qualifying

Sporting a new team livery in the Peters & May Racing ‘colours’ the pressure was on for Ben to keep focused and for Beth to safely finish her very first national event.

With only 1 qualifying session chance the stormy weather conditions would prove very tricky for all of the GT15 Drivers and set-ups were being changed right up until the last minute to ensure maximum but safe performance.

After a couple of ‘flighty’ laps Ben eventually settled the boat to the conditions and posted a 1.00.63 lap time ahead of his closest rival Tiegen Goodfellow who posted a time of 1.02.99. Beth eventually settled for 5th position on the grid with a 1.04.96 lap time.

Racing

With qualifying out of the way the heats got underway and Ben got the event off to a flying start taking the lead of the heat and holding off the competition to take the first checkered flag of the weekend with Beth finishing 6th.

Continuing on his winning streak Ben went on to secure two more heat wins and came under some pressure in the final from the ever-faster Tiegen Goodfellow who with every race is closing the gap at the front. Beth exceeded expectations and finished 5th overall after going on to secure a 5th & 4th Place in the last 2 heats after battling with the talented Thomas Mantripp who proved he is not so easy to overtake.

Bring on the challenge !�

Commenting on this weekends win Ben offered praise to his fellow competitors “Everyone raced really well this weekend and Tiegen was really starting to pressure me in the last heat which is great as it means I will have to up my game to try and keep competitive. Beth also did a fantastic job and I’m sure it wont be long before she is battling for the top as well”.

He continued “People think that what we do is easy but believe me it’s not. We are all just normal kids at the end of the day and to remain calm under the competitive pressure whilst trying to control the boat & remembering all of the rules is difficult. But that’s not to say that we don’t have fun and all support each other, off of the water we are all really good friends”.

Next Race

The RYA British Championship now sees all of the teams head to Cardiff-Bay on the 23rd & 24th June for the 3rd round of the 2012 GT15 British Championships where the youngsters will face the challenge of their first ever ‘right hander’ that could really shake-up the championship points !

Ben, Beth & all at Jelf Racing would like to thank our sponsors Peters & May Global Boat Transport, BS Motorsport, Tohatsu UK & Racingbatteries.co.uk for their continued support.