SIMON Belcher recorded his second European Jet Sport Championship win in Belgium at the weekend, 18 years after his first success at the prestigious event.

Belcher was competing at the Eau d’Heure lakes in the south of the country across two days to land the championship, and he did it in fine style by winning all three of his races en route to claiming top spot.

The 44-year-old, who away from the water is team principal of Swindon’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship squad DUO Motorsport and HMS Racing, rolled back the years with some exceptional racing in the 200-strong competition.

He said: “I’ve been working towards this for months but to win the European title after 18 years is beyond my wildest dreams – to take maximum points was even more special.

“We made a lot of changes to the Yamaha GP1800 to get it to handle the way I like, and it paid off.”

Belcher had his own bit a fortune in race one when he was promoted to first after finishing the race second following the disqualification of one of his competitors.

After being drawn on the outside in his first race, Belcher’s win meant he had pick of the starting positions in his second ride.

Launching from the inside, the former Renault Clio Cup winner led from lights-to-flag to record a second victory.

Despite his two victories, the championship went down to the final race after Frenchman Jordan Lambert finished second in both of the opening two races.

From pole, Belcher made a good start and led by the end of the first lap.

He said: “I controlled the race and made sure I didn’t make any mistakes.

“The rest is history. It’s amazing to have won the title.”