Kent Powerboat Racer Ben Jelf (23,Maidstone) last weekend travelled to Macon, France for the third round of the 2023 F1H2O World Championship.
The short tight course of the River Saône would create taxing conditions for the 20 boat fleet as they competed throughout the 50 lap race.
The BRM Qualifying session saw the fleet split into two groups of 10 boats. Each group then competed in a 20 minute session to determine qualifying positions before the fastest six qualifiers then battled it out for pole position in a 15-minute stint.
Ben lost power during qualifying due to broken engine reeds and F1 Atlantic Team mate Duarte Benavente was forced to finish his qualifying session early when he lost his propeller and prop shaft during the session.
Duarte Benavente would take 15th place on the starting grid and Ben would start in 16th from the Grand Prix of France Race.
With the the tight constraints of the course, officials announced that the race would be under a rolling start opposed the the normal dead engine start.
The 50 lap race was full of drama as Ben and Duarte filtered their way through the field to finish in 12th and 11th respectively with both drivers putting in Formidable performances in the French Grand Prix.
On the weekend’s event Ben had this to say “What a fantastic event in Mâcon. The course was really tight and created some really difficult racing conditions which really pushed each driver to their limits.”
He continued “The whole team put in a lot of hard work to get my new boat on the water this weekend, and despite a couple of little problems the boat was performing really well. I can’t wait to see what we can achieve as a team in the future races.”
The teams attentions now turn to the Grand Prix of Sardinia on the 29th September.
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