Kent Powerboat Racer Ben Jelf (24,Maidstone) and his team headed to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates last weekend for the grand finale of the 2024 UIM F1H2O World Championship.
In his second full season in the pinnacle Powerboat racing class Ben has competed at six different venues throughout the World, Including Vietnam, Indonesia, Italy and China.
The conclusion of the season saw Jelf ready to challenge for podium positions as he looked for a career best result.
The Road To Sharjah – Grand Prix of Sharjah got underway on Friday with a practice session where Ben used the full two hours to his advantage and was putting in strong lap times and gaining experience in every lap.
Saturday mornings qualifying saw Ben push himself into the top 12 boats to progress into Q2. Twelve of the Worlds Best Powerboat Racers and just 15 minutes to find that perfect lap to make it through to the top six and fight for pole position.
With just over two minutes to go, directions from Ben’s Radioman/mother told the youngster it was now or never and with that he put in a faultless lap and pushed himself into third.
He claimed 5th on the grid in the final qualifying session but would later be promoted to 4th for the Grand prix race when Abu Dhabi’s Al Qamzi was forced to change his engine before the race.
But before the Grand Prix Race the fleet was split in two to battle it out in the afternoons Sprint Races. Jelf would compete in Race 1 amongst a highly competitive fleet.
As the lights went out for the start of the race and they powered towards the start buoy. Jelf got squeezed out on either side and was forced to back off completely to avoid a collision. This left Jelf in 4th place and fighting to catch up to third for the whole 16 lap race.
He brought the boat back in 4th place when the chequered flag was dropped. Later promoted to the Silver medal position with Officials having deemed there was an infringement on the start and two boats were docked a lap. Both drivers used their right to appeal but only one was successful and Jelf was announced as the third place podium winner.
As the final Grand Prix of the season loomed the team were in buoyant spirits with two years of hard work finally looking like it would pay off.
Jelf started the Grand Prix of Sharjah in 4th with an engine change meaning Al Qamzi was moved to the back of the grid.
As the lights went out for the start of the race Jelf in his normal driving style got a fantastic start and as they headed into turn two was battling for third and in a really strong position when due to the spray and the Arabian sun in his view he drove straight through the turn marks causing a yellow flag and dropping him back several places.
But the misfortune didn’t end there. The collision with the buoy wrecked his propeller and lost all speed. Ben battled to try to keep up but by lap 15 of the race the damage was too much.
Jelf knew further progress could damage his engine so took the decision to retire with the start of the 2025 season approaching in around ten weeks time.
Disappointed Ben had this to say “I couldn’t see the buoys due to the spray and conditions and miscalculated causing me to hit them. I’m gutted and feel like I’ve let the team down as they’ve all worked so hard this season and we have proved we have the pace and are capable of mixing it with the drivers with the bigger budgets than us.”
He continued “The support I get from my Team, parents and all our supporters is immense.and I am eternally grateful. I was looking for that Grand Prix Podium to reward them but it wasn’t to be this year. I’ve taken two Bronze medals in Sprint races in Indonesia and here this weekend and finished 9th in the World Championship so we are celebrating the positives and are now turning our focus to bouncing back in 2025 and bringing home more silverware.”
With the 2025 F1H2O calendar yet to be confirmed it is expected to start in late February in Vietnam.
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