Aimee Watts makes successful return to historic racing at Brands Hatch

Aimee Watts returned to historic racing at Brands Hatch, competing in the Sanwa Trophy for Pre-1966 Historic Minis, and achieved a pair of top-15 finishes, including a best result of 12th in race two, showcasing her overtaking skills.

Competing in the Sanwa Trophy for Pre-1966 Historic Minis at Brands Hatch, Aimee Watts enjoyed a productive return to historic racing. In a highly competitive grid of over 30 cars, Watts adapted to the different form of racing from her modern Mazda MX-5 machine which she regularly competes in. Achieving a best result of 12th in race two, Aimee’s secured a pair of top-15 results in two thrilling races where she displayed her overtaking skills.

Predominantly competing in the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 Supercup Championship in 2024, Watts took a break from her primary series to take part in the Sanwa Trophy for Pre-1966 Historic Minis at Brands Hatch.

The Sanwa Trophy formed part of a bumper programme of racing at this year’s MSVR Mini Festival with seven different categories racing on the Indy layout. Although Aimee is not new to historic racing, it has been a number of years since she drove her historic Mini. The style of driving required for a lightweight front-wheel drive machine is vastly different to her rear-wheel-drive Mazda MX-5 and therefore adapting quickly would be the key to a fun and successful weekend.

Qualifying was the sole track action for the Sanwa Trophy competitors with a grid of 40 drivers all searching for track position. Aimee’s initial laps were extremely competitive, before a red flag late in the session led to a short restart. A further red flag prevented a flurry of lap time improvements, however Watts’ return to historic racing was a positive one after qualifying in 16th position.

The opening race of the weekend took place on Sunday morning with Watts lining up from 12th on the grid. Her elevated starting position compared to her qualifying result was due to some teams choosing two-driver lineups across the event. Aimee made a good initial getaway but it was a challenging opening lap on her return to historic racing as Watts fell to 18th as the second lap got underway.

However, Aimee was quickly into her rhythm and after running side-by-side with Daniel Wheeler to start lap five, Watts moved ahead. Following problems for both Adam Morgan and Tom Bell, Aimee was into the top-15 by lap seven and regularly running lap times which matched those inside the top-10. Watts was now applying pressure to Simon Goodliff while running less than a second behind her rival.

During the second half of the race, Aimee’s attention was focused forward as she looked for a way ahead of Goodliff while closing in on a top-10 position. An issue for Dan Lewis on lap 15 promoted Watts to 14th position as she continued to run consistent lap times in her historic Mini Cooper. A late retirement for Sam Summerhayes saw Aimee take the checkered flag in 13th position to end a positive opening race in the Sanwa Trophy.

For the second race of the weekend, Watts lined up from 16th position and although it was another tough start losing six positions on the opening lap, she was once again determined to fight back.

Aimee overtook three cars on lap two and then moved ahead of Jo Polley on lap three to claim 18th position. Setting an impressive personal best time on lap four, Watts was quickly catching the drivers ahead and looking to move back inside the top-15.

Watts continued to move forward as the race unfolded with a pass on Simon Goodliff followed by a nice move on Tom Westley. Watts and Westley ran side-by-side as lap six got underway with Aimee completing the pass on the following lap. A series of fast times saw Aimee catch the group of drivers ahead and after Nick Padmore entered the pits and Freddie Hunt had an off-track moment, Watts was into 14th position.

On lap 14, Watts made an excellent pass on Declan Edgecombe by setting up the overtake at Paddock Hill Bend before clearing her rival on the entry to Druids. Despite time beginning to run out, Aimee was still looking to make moves and she passed David Ogden on lap 15. Continuing to battle hard in the closing stages, Watts took the checkered flag in 12th position to end a brilliant race on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit.

It was an excellent return to historic racing for Watts who displayed her racecraft and overtaking skills in the pair of Sanwa Trophy races. Finishing both contests inside the top-15 was a great achievement in a highly competitive field of racers featuring drivers from the British Touring Car Championship.

Aimee will now be looking ahead to returning to modern machinery with the next round of the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 Supercup Championship taking place at Cadwell Park in less than one week.