Stewartby Powerboat and Hydroplane Racing Club, host the 2022 Circuit Powerboat Association British Sprint Championships where seven winners will be crowned this weekend at their venue in Bedfordshire England.
The British Sprint Championship will see competitors compete in their respective classes over the course of four heats of racing with the best three results to count towards the title.
Reigning GT15 Sprint Champion Oban Duncan will make a return to class to defend her title. But with Abbie Haylock putting in an impressive performance so far this season and new racers Elsie Walker and Riley Hudson competing the pressure is on the reigning champion will have her work cut out.
So far this season there has been nothing separating the racers currently at top of the table in the National GT30 class. This should mean the sprint title is anyone’s for the taking. George Elmore who currently leads the championship by just two points knows he has his work cut out.
There’s going to be some remarkably close racing this weekend. Ashley and Paul Penfold have both been really strong so far this season and will give me no room for errors. I need to focus and hopefully secure pole position, but it will be a battle to keep them both behind me.
Stewartby GT30 racer Steve Olney is looking forward to the weekend’s action.
The sprints always provide a great weekend of racing and is always a great social get together with friends old and new so I’m really looking forward to the weekend.
With the reigning British F2 Sprint Champion Mette Bjerknaes racing at the UIM World Championships in Lithuania this weekend, a new champion will be crowned in the Formula Grand Prix class.
Amongst those looking to secure this title will be Ben Jelf as he competes in his first full season in the class. Ben is currently developing the new Mercury APX200 engine along with the Jelf Racing Team, but the competition will be fierce for the youngster as he will face some stiff competition over the course of the weekend.
We are still learning the capabilities of the engine every time we take it out on the water and there are still a lot of modifications that need to be made to the Moore hull to achieve the best we can from the setup, but so far, we are pleased with what we’ve achieved. It will be interesting to see what we can achieve this weekend. Steve Hoult and Leon Wigg will be difficult to beat but if we can put in some strong performances then hopefully, we can walk away with some silverware.
Further action will come from the T850 monohulls where the Club Commodore Nigel Edwards will be competing and looks forward to welcoming the powerboat racing fraternity to the club. Competition from Mark Williams and Bill Owen will produce some formidable racing in this class where reliability can be a key factor.
We have a great entry list for all classes. It’s great to see such a turn out after what’s been a couple of difficult years for the sport. So far this season the racing has been extremely close in every class and with this being a stand-alone event anyone could win.
Images by Nikki Drummond and Lee Prewer
