Taking place at the tight confines of the Carr Mill circuit where overtaking can be a as tricky as passing an opponent around a Monegasque circuit Jelf secured a second and third place from Saturday’s heats.

Sunday saw a further two heats but this time on a handicapped system. These were calculated from the qualifying times and faster race times to work out each competitors delayed start time. With just eight seconds covering the entire class Jelf would start first and Whittle last and with the advantage of clear water ahead of him Jelf made it pay going on to secure his first heat win, which was quickly followed up with a second one giving him a total point score of 1160, one hundred points ahead of Whittle who had taken two heat wins the previous day.

For the past few months Jelf has been using the new Mercury APX200 engine fitted to a Molgaard hull as Jelf Racing carry out development work before running the engine in the 2023 UIM F2 World Championship.

When he spoke to PRW he admitted that they had arrived at the circuit with no real expectation of standing on the top step of the podium.

We were just looking to see how the engine performed after making a few changes here and there. We still have a lot of work to do but are progressing well and getting some really good data. Seeing which of the range of propellers works best with the motor has surprised us because we found one that the team used some twenty years ago works really well with it.

A few of the drivers did question whether the handicap system was still relevant, but Jelf was quick to answer that, when he said that the current champion had won his title in the same circumstances last season.

Collecting second place was the current champion Whittle, who had started the weekend extremely well. He was another driver who spoke of a sense of surprise when he spoke to PRW about swapping from a BaBa hull to the Moore.

The speed at which I’ve adapted to the Moore has shocked some people but I’m not complaining. The way it gets off the start pontoon, it’s just ballistic and we have even been able to use some of my best props that we thought would only suit to BaBa, that’s proved extremely useful.

Whittle confirmed that this season he’s concentrating solely on the British Championship with a view to joining up with the UIM F2 World Championships in 2023.

Less than twenty points separated Whittle from third place Bjerknæs, who was running her stock Optimax this weekend, having destroyed her race engine in testing at Stewartby.

It certainly was a frustrating start for her as during qualifying the lift pump packed up. Her mechanics then set about making a spacer to hold the engine up, but it would mean she would start the first heat almost at the back of the grid. Then to make matters worse the engine developed some electrical issues which meant the power kept going on and off.

When she spoke to PRW she was in a philosophical mood.

Any time I spend on the water now is precious not only for me but also for the team I have around me who have reacted brilliantly to the issues we have encountered here. They have done an excellent job in problem solving so it been an enormously valuable weekend for them before we head off to the opening round of the UIM F2 World Championship.

Last place on the start grid for the first heat was scant reward for Jonny Brewer. A last-minute decision saw him enter his first ever Formula Grand Prix race and only his third proper drive in the class.

My main focus this season is Formula GP Light, but we decided to get some valuable seat time in the F2 boat and try out a couple of different propellers in qualifying.

It obviously paid off because he managed to set the fastest time with just a few minutes remaining in the session. Due to his lack of experience in the class though Brewer would have to relinquish the pole position to Whittle though.

Disaster struck him in the opening heat as towards the end his gearbox seized following a real seal failure. Thanks to Ian Blacker from the Jelf Racing Team who loaned him one of his spare gearboxes, Brewer was back on the water come Sunday morning to gain some more seat time.

Blacker meanwhile had overcome the recent mechanical gremlins and finished a credible fourth place.

The British Championship now moves to Oulton Broad, near Lowestoft in June before the final event of the season at Stewartby, Bedfordshire in September.

All images: Chris Davies/PRW

I’m really looking forward to the race at Carr Mill, lining up on the start pontoon alongside the likes of Jono Brewer, Harvey Smith, and Mike Pillow, who have all raced at international level, I must not forget that I’m the newbie here.

Duncan might be a ‘newbie’ to the class, but she certainly brings with her plenty of racing experience. Her first introduction to the sport was through the UK P1 Superstock Series, but quickly realised that she was too young to race offshore. So, when some of the drivers suggested circuit racing would be a good place to start, she enrolled in the Formula Future class. From there she progressed to the GT15 series and now has decided the time was right to start racing in the Formula Grand Prix Light category.

I feel like I’ve done as much as I can do with GT15, and I want to really challenge myself again. First impressions are I love it. It’s everything I imagined it would be but in the same way completely different to what I am used to.

Having to adapt to sitting in a cockpit with a screen to look through is obviously the first significant difference although Duncan admits that the screen so far is not an issue as all she is doing is focusing on the water ahead of her.

Wearing a full-face helmet with the tiger face mask under it is a new experience, plus having someone talking to you via the radio was of course new but it is helping as I’m being updated on how the boat is doing and who is nearby. In the monohull you are more aware of what’s going on around you, were as in the Moore hull it’s almost like being in a bubble by comparison so the radio makes an enormous difference.

I’m glad I made the jump because I’m relishing the challenge. Now I’m learning to get the feel of the Moore hull, which I know will take time but those who know me will also be aware that I can be a little bit impatient. At the end of the day the only person pushing me is myself but that’s me all over.

Duncan admits she has come a long way in her short time in the sport, having won her first title at the age of ten when she became the youngest ever Scottish Junior RiB Champion.

I never expected to be where I am now in the Formula Grand Prix Light class. It’s been weird looking back on it, but it’s also nice to think about how far I have come.

Qualifying for the Formula Grand Prix Light gets underway at 10:30.