Aimee Watts delivered an impressive performance at Donington Park, charging from 15th overall on the grid to Club class victory on the road - only to be denied by a track limits penalty, thus finishing second in the only race of the weekend.
Aimee Watts continued her excellent form in the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX5 Supercup Championship by claiming a runner-up finish at Donington Park. Watts qualified in 15th position overall, second in the Club class, before charging through the field in the only race of the weekend.
Watts took the Club class victory on the road and was only denied by a track limits penalty, while also running inside the top-10 overall. Heavy rain on Sunday led to the cancellation of the two remaining races on safety grounds with excessive standing water.
Arriving at Donington Park for the penultimate round of the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX5 Supercup Championship, Watts was looking to return to the top step of the podium.
Prior to the weekend, Aimee sat second in the Club class championship after a run of four consecutive third place finishes. The margin between Watts and championship leader Ollie Hall stood at just 20 points and with 100 points available for a race victory, the title was set to go down to the wire.
Aiming to begin the weekend on the front foot, Aimee was searching for a strong performance in Saturday’s twenty-minute qualifying session. The majority of the field set their fastest times during the first half of the session, with Watts no exception.
After sitting just outside the overall top-10 for a large portion of qualifying, Aimee ended the session 15th overall, second in the Club class and crucially ahead of championship rival Hall.
The opening race of the weekend was held on Saturday morning with Aimee lining up from the eighth row of the grid. It was an excellent start for Watts who gained three overall positions to move into 12th overall, while remaining second in the Club class.
Aimee continued her march forward in the early stages of the race as she passed Alistair Dendy on lap two and James Cossins on lap three. Now inside the top-10 overall, the top-14 drivers were covered by just less than six seconds as the competitive nature of the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX5 Supercup Championship was underlined.
On lap four, both Tom Griffiths and Jack Brewer made their way ahead with the pair of Pro class drivers recovering lost positions. The following lap saw Club class leader Kamal Kalsi drop down the field with Watts now assuming the lead for the first time. After Cossins made his way back ahead, Watts had Dendy and championship rival Ollie Hall on her tail as she began to lose touch with the group of drivers ahead. This meant that she lost the benefit of the powerful slipstream effect and therefore defending her position would be challenging.
Nonetheless, Watts did a superb job to protect her position during the middle stages of the race as she ran in 11th position overall, while still leading the Club class. On lap 13, her resistance was broken by Pro class driver Dendy, however she maintained a gap to Hall.
Conditions became challenging in the closing stages and a chaotic final two laps saw Watts move ahead of Dendy, while also benefiting from a number of incidents ahead. Starting the final lap in ninth place overall, Aimee gained a further position to take the checkered flag in an excellent eighth position overall, first in the Club class, before a five second penalty for track limits dropped her to second behind Hall.
Conditions were significantly different on Sunday with persistent heavy rain and standing water which initially forced a timetable change with the second Clapham North MOT Mazda MX5 Supercup Championship race moved to later in the day.
However, with conditions deteriorating throughout the morning, the decision was made by the clerk of the course to abandon the meeting at 11:30am. As a result, neither of the remaining two races took place with safety taking priority at Donington Park.
Although the race weekend was shortened by weather, Watts displayed exceptional pace at Donington Park and was unfortunate not to claim the Club class victory. Nonetheless, she competed on a level which once again rivalled the Pro class drivers and this will give her encouragement heading into the final round of the season.
Brands Hatch will host the season finale for the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX5 Supercup Championship with three races taking place on the weekend of 19th/20th October.
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