Double podium for Aimee Watts in challenging Croft weekend

Aimee Watts continued her strong season in the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 Supercup by securing a fantastic Club class pole position in qualifying, followed by two podium finishes in tricky conditions at Croft.

Photo credits: BRSCC

Aimee Watts continued her strong season in the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 Supercup with two podium finishes in tricky conditions at Croft. Watts secured a fantastic Club class pole position in qualifying which saw her line up eighth on the overall grid.

Finishing third in class in race one, Aimee had a challenging race two in difficult conditions, before fighting back from tenth on the grid in race three to once again finish third.

As the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 Supercup season arrived at Croft for the second half of the season, Watts was eager to reclaim her championship lead. Sitting just one point behind Ollie Hall in the Club class standings, Aimee’s season has saw her finish off the podium just twice in the first 11 races. Her consistency and race pace have been excellent and this has seen her pull out a sizeable margin over third placed driver Bruce Robinson.

After securing two top-5 Club class finishes at Croft last year, Watts was aiming to build upon this knowledge and ensure she returned to the rostrum this time out.

Qualifying was the first competitive action of the weekend and took place on Saturday morning with tricky conditions. The track was damp and therefore searching for grip would be important to a fast lap time.

Aimee’s initial laps placed her just outside the top-3 in the Club class, before an exceptional final lap saw her claim pole position. Watts also secured her best ever overall starting position with an eighth-place result after setting a time of 1:47.844.

Track conditions were still damp and greasy for the opening race of the weekend with Aimee lining up from the fourth row of the grid. It was a challenging start for Watts who held a significant slide through the opening corners while losing the Club class lead to Ollie Hall. Ending lap one in 11th position overall, the top-3 Club class drivers began pulling away with Wilbur Tiley closing in on Watts.

On lap three, Tiley made the move with Aimee in third position as light rain began to fall at Croft. Maintaining track position with the two Club class leaders was difficult as Watts fought tracking issues which returned after qualifying, however she was still holding down a podium position.

On lap six, Hall was caught out in a battle with the Pro class drivers which allowed Aimee to close in on her competitor. After moving ahead of both Joe Wiggin and Alex Stott, Watts was inside the top-10 overall and held this position to the checkered flag while returning to the Club class podium in third.

Grid positions for the second race of the weekend were based on the driver’s second fastest times from qualifying with Aimee lining up tenth overall, third in the Club class. Conditions were still treacherous and wetter than on Saturday, however a great launch saw Watts claim the Club class lead at the exit of Hawthorne Bend. Wilbur Tiley was in close pursuit and her Club class rival made the move at the start of lap two, before misfortune struck as Watts was caught out by conditions and spun into the barrier.

Despite falling to the rear of the field, Aimee was able to rejoin the circuit and continue. There was light damage to her Mazda MX-5 following the off-track moment, however she began to close in on the group of cars ahead. Now in 20th place overall, tenth in the Club class, Watts was determined to score championship points and she moved ahead of Bruce Robinson on lap six to claim ninth in class.

Following a spin for Kamal Kalsi, Watts was into eighth in class and although Kalsi rejoined just behind her, Aimee’s pace was strong in light of the damage. After moving ahead of Clive Powles on lap eight, Watts passed Christopher Ginn for sixth at the start of lap nine before a second spin of the race, this time at Tower, saw her fall to the rear of the field once more. Taking the checkered flag in tenth position within class, Aimee was able to finish the race and therefore score important championship points despite a tough contest in wet conditions.

The final race of the weekend was also held in extremely wet conditions with Aimee looking to bounce back from a challenging second race. With grid positions based on the results of race two, Watts would start from the rear of the field but made a fantastic launch to gain multiple position on the first half of lap one. Despite a moment during the second half of the lap, Aimee was up to eighth in the Club class.

Watts was showing excellent speed in the early stages to overtake both Steve Kite and Christopher Ginn on lap two which elevated her to sixth. Cracking the top-5 on lap three with a pass on Alex Jones, Aimee was soon into fourth position with a nice move on Kamal Kalsi. Now with a sizeable gap to push into, the sector one time set by Watts on lap five was the fifth fastest in the entire field as she began catching championship rival Ollie Hall.

On lap seven, Jim Barratt had an off-track moment in the tough conditions and dropped directly behind Aimee, with Watts now into a provisional podium position with two laps remaining. The gap to Hall now stood at just over two seconds and she was able to make good progress in the closing stages but just ran out of time to claim second position. Nonetheless, she produced a superb drive to finish in third position and stand on the podium for the second time during the weekend.

It was an action-packed weekend for Watts who showed fantastic speed despite the challenges posed by the conditions at Croft. Her qualifying lap was a particular highlight, together with Aimee’s excellent drive through the field in race three of the weekend.

Two podium finishes serve as a good return from a challenging weekend and she is now looking forward to tackling the formidable Cadwell Park circuit when the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 Supercup returns on the weekend of 10th/11th August.