Maiden podium finish for Aimee Watts at Brands Hatch
- LIAM REDFORD
- 3 hours ago
- 6 min read
Following a sensational last lap pass in race three at Brands Hatch, Aimee Watts claimed her first ever podium finish in Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain, rounding out the weekend by finishing all three races inside the top-5 within class and securing the fastest lap in the RS Am class in race 1.
Following a sensational last lap pass in race three at Brands Hatch, Aimee Watts claimed her first ever podium finish in Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain. Watts also secured the fastest lap in the RS Am class during race one to underline her pace, while her racecraft enabled the Clean Racing driver to finish all three races inside the top-5 within class.
Watts arrived at Brands Hatch looking to bounce back from a challenging debut weekend at Donington Park. Although a race one crash ruled her out of the majority of the event, Watts displayed excellent speed in both practice and qualifying. The Clean Racing driver was keen to established herself as a podium contender in the RS Am class and therefore collecting solid points was a top priority at Brands Hatch.
On-track action got underway on Friday with two free practice sessions held in ideal conditions. Watts completed 39 laps during the first session and set the 14th fastest time overall, fifth among those in the RS Am class.
In the second session on Friday afternoon, Aimee took a significant step forward in performance. Improving her quickest time by over a second on the short Brands Hatch Indy circuit, Watts ended the day with the second fastest time in class and was just over half a second away from the quickest overall lap set by teammate Toby Trice.
Qualifying took place on Saturday morning with the margins set to be extremely close throughout the grid. Watts was immediately challenging among the RS Am frontrunners and at the halfway stage she sat 11th overall, fourth in class and just a tenth of a second away from second position.
As the drivers prepared for one final run during the last ten minutes of qualifying, the pace increased. Watts also found faster sectors but was unable to put these together in order to improve her time. Despite her ideal lap time putting her inside the top-10, Watts’ quickest time of a 47.512 saw her qualify in 13th position overall, fifth in the RS Am class.
Race one of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon with Watts starting from fifth on the grid in the RS Am class. It was a challenging start for the Clean Racing driver who encountered a technical issue off the line and therefore fell to the rear of the RS field, while also being overtaken by a number of the CS machines. The safety car was quickly deployed after just one racing lap as Watts’ class rivals Reece Somerfield and Matt Kyle-Henney were involved in an incident.
Due to a complex recovery process required, the safety car period was lengthy with Aimee running in 18th position overall, fifth in the CS Am class. The restart came on lap 11 and Watts quickly cleared the CS Am class machines of Katia Loggie and Paul Porter. After initially putting up a stout defence, Watts moved ahead of Lydia Walmsley on lap 14 and with class rival Dean Burden off the circuit at Graham Hill bend, she was now into fourth within the RS Am class.
The following lap saw Watts overtake Jason Baker and after clearing the leading CS Pro machine of Jonathan Moore on lap 17, she had clear track ahead of her. The gap to Karim Sekkat was six seconds, however Watts was hoping that a battle would break out for the final step on the RS Am podium.
On her first clean lap, Watts was faster than the next four drivers ahead and after a personal best time on lap 19, she was running times which challenged the overall top-5. This enabled Aimee to take at least half a second out of Sekkat’s advantage on a regular basis during the second half of the race. The Clean Racing driver was consistently the fastest RS Am class driver in the closing stages and Watts was coming ever closer to claiming the fastest lap in class.
On lap 27, she did just that by setting a time of a 47.679 which was just over a tenth away from her quickest lap from qualifying. With just one lap remaining, Watts had closed the gap to Sekkat to less than half a second and although she just ran out of time to make a move, Aimee ended race one in fourth position and just over a tenth away from the RS Am podium.
For race two of the weekend, Watts lined up from 14th on the overall grid, fifth in the RS Am class. Aimee made a clean start and retained fifth position within class, while quickly applying pressure to Daniel Lewis. However, Dean Burden was directly behind and therefore Watts was also required to defend her position.
Despite Burden closing to within a quarter of a second on lap two, Watts was able to open up the margin before the safety car was deployed on lap four. Contact was made between the battling CS Pro pair of Jonathan Moore and Jason Baker and with Baker’s car stuck in the gravel at Druids with damage, the race was neutralised.
Just a little over ten minutes were remaining when the green flag was displayed and Watts was soon applying pressure to Lewis. On lap 11, she made an excellent move to climb into fourth position within the RS Am class. Following a personal best time on lap 12, Aimee had opened up a margin of over a second to her class rival while she now began catching the RS Pro machines of Dan Zelos and Oliver Cottam.
After closing to within four tenths of a second to Cottam on lap 17, an issue on lap 20 saw Watts fall behind Lewis as he reclaimed fourth position. With just three minutes remaining, Watts did well to protect her position and secure her second top-5 finish of the weekend by taking the chequered flag in 14th overall, fifth in the RS Am class.
The final race at Brands Hatch took place on Sunday afternoon with Watts again lining up from 14th overall, fifth in class. Watts lost out to class rival Dean Burden on the opening lap and she fell to sixth in class, however it was a clean start and the RS Am drivers were all running nose-to-tail. Aimee ended lap one less than a quarter of a second behind Burden and on lap two, she reclaimed a spot inside the top-5.
As the racing remained close in the RS Am class, Karim Sekkat closed in and he ran side-by-side with Watts to start lap five. The Moroccan driver completed the move into Paddock Hill bend with Watts now running in sixth position within class. Responding to this setback, Aimee set a personal best time on lap six as she ensured Sekkat remained in her sights.
On lap 12, her persistence was rewarded as Sekkat ran wide out of Clearways and Watts drew level across the line. Aimee pulled clear out of Paddock Hill Bend and moved inside the top-5 with Daniel Lewis her next target. Following a series of fast times, Watts closed in on Lewis and although their battle was for fourth position on the road, Reece Somerfield had picked up a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits ahead.
With a potential spot on the podium now up for grabs, Watts was pushing hard on lap 21, she dipped below the 48 second barrier for the first time in the race with a best time of a 47.960. Less than five minutes of the race remained when Somerfield’s track limits penalty was upgraded to ten seconds and this elevated Aimee into a net fourth position.
With just one lap remaining, Watts was running just a tenth of a second behind Lewis and now with a podium position on the line, her pressure intensified. As the drivers exited Graham Hill bend, Lewis’ car oversteered and Watts was able to draw level. A fantastic move around the outside into Surtees saw Aimee move ahead and after resisting her rival’s challenge at Clearways, Aimee claimed a spot on the RS Am class podium as she finished in 12th overall, third in class, once Somerfield’s penalty was applied.
Watts drove superbly at Brands Hatch as she stood on the podium for the first time in race three. Her racecraft was excellent as she showed patience and perseverance to secure a trio of top-5 finishes on a circuit which is challenging for overtaking.
Aimee will now be looking to return to the rostrum as Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain returns at Oulton Park on the weekend of June 21st/22nd.