Aimee Watts achieves podium finish at Anglesey

Aimee Watts continued her strong season in the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 Supercup Championship, finishing all three races inside the top-5 of the Club class at Anglesey and, with a podium finish in the first race, she maintained her record of stepping onto the podium at every event of the season to date.

Photo credits: BRSCC

Aimee Watts continued her strong season in the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 Supercup Championship with a consistent performance at Anglesey. Stepping onto the podium in the first race of the weekend, Watts finished all three races inside the top-5 of the Club class despite limited experience at the circuit. Enjoying close battles with her rivals during the event, Aimee has scored the highest number of total points of any Club class driver to date in 2024.

Prior to the triple-header at Anglesey, Watts entered the weekend with a small lead atop the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 Supercup Championship standings. Leading the Club class on both overall score and dropped points, Aimee had finished on the podium in all eight prior rounds and this speed, coupled with her consistency, ensured she was the driver to beat.

Anglesey provided a different challenge for the racers, especially for Watts who missed the trip to Wales in 2023 and would therefore be looking to get up to speed quickly.

Qualifying took place on Saturday morning with Aimee looking to start the weekend on the front foot, while gaining familiarity with the circuit in her Mazda MX-5. Watts was able to set a number of consistent lap times during qualifying and set the sixth fastest time in the Club class, a solid effort considering her relative lap of experience at Anglesey.

The first race of the weekend got underway on Saturday afternoon, with Watts starting from 16th overall, sixth in the Club class. It was a trademark excellent start for Aimee who moved up four overall positions to 12th, while elevating herself to third in class. Running directly behind Kamal Kalsi, Watts was looking to move into the runner-up position as the midfield drivers ran nose-to-tail.

On lap four, a hard-charging Wilbur Tiley moved ahead of both Watts and Kalsi, with Aimee now in fourth position. Setting a personal best time on lap five, she was able to overtake Kalsi and this put her in a comfortable position with clean air in front. Despite losing out to the Pro class machine of Alistair Dendy, Watts was able to hold a podium position in the Club class to end race one in an excellent third position.

The second race of the weekend got underway on Sunday morning, with the grid positions set by the second fastest times from qualifying. Lining up from fifth in class, it was a clean start for Watts who held her position and remained inside the top-5. Running behind Clive Powles, Aimee was looking to make a move on her fellow Club class driver. As she attempted to close in on her rival, Bruce Robinson began to catch Aimee with her attention now turned to defense as well as attack.

On lap six, Watts set a new personal best time and this saw the gap to Robinson extend to over a second. Another quick time on lap seven followed, before Robinson closed in once more as the race entered its final stages. Slipping behind her Club class competitor on lap ten, Watts remained just two tenths of a second behind and was able to move back ahead before pulling clear on the final lap to end race two in fifth position in class.

Grid positions for the final race of the weekend were set by the results from race two and therefore Watts lined up fifth in the Club class. Aimee made a good start from the seventh row of the overall grid and moved ahead of Clive Powles at the end of lap one. Running some good lap times in the early exchanges, Watts was able to build up a comfortable gap behind her and therefore set her sights on the drivers in the podium positions.

Setting a personal best time on lap four, Aimee had almost matched her qualifying benchmark and this allowed her to close the gap to third place driver Kamal Kalsi. At the midway point of the race, her rival was just one second ahead and therefore a podium finish remained within reach.

By lap eight, Aimee had cut the gap further and ran just three tenths of a second behind Kalsi which allowed her to apply the pressure to her fellow Club class competitor. Despite her best efforts, a second podium finish of the weekend was just out of reach and therefore Watts closed out the event with a solid fourth place result.

Despite not having the outright speed of previous rounds while competing at Anglesey, Watts competed well and banked valuable championship points. Aimee still remains well in contention for Club class championship and maintained her record of stepping onto the podium at every event of the season to date.

The next round of the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 Supercup Championship takes place at Croft on the weekend of 13th/14th July.