Powerboat racer Ben Jelf says his 17th British Championship title is an unexpected surprise.

Jelf, from Maidstone, took part in the standalone British Sprint Championship in Bedfordshire, taking pole position in the final minutes of qualifying following a prop change before winning all four heats.

The 24-year-old, who competes in the FH120 World Championship, was asked to drive the new Tintorera Racing GT30 Hull by boat builder Stuart Atlee.

Jelf said: “If at the beginning of the year you’d have told me I would have won my 17th title this year I’d have called anyone a liar.

“The team are so busy with competing in F1H2O World Championship. We had put the British Championships on the back burner.

“It’s a great honour to have been asked by Stuart to race his boat and prove that it’s a championship-winning design.

“My grandfather Ted raced the number 17 so the number has special meaning to me.

“Thank you to Tintorera Racing, Stuart Atlee and all my team and sponsors for their continuing support.”

Meanwhile, Colin Jelf finished runner-up in the F2 British Sprint Championship in just his second outing with the new Mercury 200APX engine.

Qualifying in third place, he came fourth in the first three heats and second in the final race.

“There are only two Mercury APX engines being raced here in Europe,” he said.

“So, we are still learning how the engine handles as the weight is different to the previous model which means modifications need to be made and propeller choices are different to those we would have made before.

“It was a really informative weekend for the team in our development in the F2 class with the APX engine and now we use the information to continue to improve and see how we progress.

“To walk away from the championship with silver is fantastic.”