Aimee Watts finished as vice-champion in the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 Supercup Championship's Club class after claiming two Club class victories and three top-10 overall finishes at the season finale, rounding out a successful season with six Club class wins.
Aimee Watts was crowned vice-champion in the Club class of the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 Supercup Championship following the season finale at Brands Hatch. Watts excelled in wet conditions as she claimed two Club class victories while finishing all three races inside the overall top-10. In the season finale, Aimee lined up on reverse grid pole and gained vital experience at the head of the field as she battled confidently with drivers from the Pro class.
Following a truncated event last time out at Donington Park, Watts was looking to finish the season on a high at Brands Hatch. Arriving into the season finale with a chance of claiming the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 Supercup Championship Club class title, Aimee was looking to overcome a deficit of 23 points to rival Ollie Hall with dropped scores taken into account. Both Watts and Hall maintained a 100% finishing record ahead of the final round, an impressive achievement in the highly-competitive one-make championship.
The race weekend got underway on Saturday morning with the drivers given twenty-minutes to set a fast time in qualifying. Conditions were extremely challenging with a wet track and therefore drivers built up their confidence throughout the session.
Three red flag periods disrupted the session with qualifying also ended early due to a stoppage. Nonetheless, Watts had set the second fastest lap in the Club class, tenth overall, while crucially starting a row ahead of championship rival Hall.
Conditions had changed for the opening race of the weekend on Saturday afternoon with the sun shining and the track was predominantly dry, with damp patches away from the racing line. Lining up from the fifth row of the grid, Watts made a clean start and held tenth position overall, second in the Club class.
Although she had overtaken Club class polesitter Wilbur Tiley, Ollie Hall had taken the lead. As the drivers entered Paddock Hill bend on lap two, contact was made between Pro class drivers Joe Wiggin and Simon Baldwin which left the former beached in the gravel with the safety car deployed.
Watts was now up to seventh position as she had also made a smart move on Hall to claim the Club class lead while the Pro class competitors battled for position ahead. The race resumed on lap five and Tiley was immediately applying the pressure with her fellow Club class driver making the move for the lead. Hall was now directly behind and looking to move ahead, however Aimee responded by setting the fastest lap of the race in the Club class.
Into the middle portion of the race, the battle for the lead was now a thrilling three-way fight with the slipstream effect keeping the cars in close proximity. By lap 13, Aimee’s pace had seen her open up a gap of over a second to Hall behind, while closing to within a tenth of a second of Tiley as she set another fastest lap.
With three laps remaining, Watts pulled off a superb move to take over the Club class lead while moving into seventh position overall. Despite Tiley drawing level as the final lap got underway, Watts was able to hold on to claim the victory while securing fastest lap in the Club class and achieving her best overall finish of the season in sixth position.
Conditions were extremely wet for the race two of the weekend which took place on Saturday morning. Grid positions were based on the second fastest times from qualifying with Watts starting from 10th overall, second in the Club class. Aimee made a fantastic initial launch and she adjusted to conditions superbly to gain three positions to end lap one in seventh position, while passing teammate Wilbur Tiley for the Club class lead.
Although Pro class driver Tom Griffiths was able to pass Watts at Paddock Hill bend on lap two, Aimee remained in a competitive train of cars and built up her speed in challenging conditions. Tiley was determined to regain the Club class lead and he drew level with Watts at the beginning of lap four. Smart defensive driving allowed Aimee to remain in the lead and following a mistake from Tiley two laps later, the pressure was eased.
On lap eight, an off-track moment for Will Blackwell-Chambers elevated Watts to eighth position overall and as the race reached the halfway mark, her Club class lead was approaching ten seconds.
Although Blackwell-Chambers moved back ahead, Aimee’s pace remained extremely fast and consistent despite the track conditions. A strong end to the race saw Watts claim the Club class victory by a margin of 13 seconds, while securing her second overall top-10 result of the weekend with an eighth-place finish.
Grid positions for the final race of the weekend were determined by a partial reversal of the race two finishing positions. As a result, Watts was drawn onto pole position for the first time in her Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 Supercup Championship career. Despite the added pressure and continued wet conditions, Aimee made a fantastic start and comfortably held the lead entering Paddock Hill bend.
Will Blackwell-Chambers then wrestled away the lead at Druids and a number of fast Pro class machines were able to follow him through. At the end of lap one, Watts was in sixth position but had banked vital experience from starting at the front of the field.
As lap three began, multiple race-winner Patrick Fletcher shaped for a move on Watts to the outside of Paddock Hill bend. Fletcher ran wide and beached his Mazda MX-5 in the gravel and therefore the safety car was deployed.
The race resumed on lap six with Aimee holding the Club class lead while maintaining a strong sixth position overall. Watts was quickly able to gain two positions following contact between James Cossins and Oliver Allwood which saw the former retire from the race.
Tom Griffiths then shaped for a pass at Paddock Hill and moved ahead with Allwood also moving through as he started a recovery drive. Watts then came under pressure from Ollie Hall and her Club class rival moved ahead on lap eight, before Wilbur Tiley also began to close in. Starting lap 10, the PWR teammates ran side-by-side with Tiley pulling ahead to demote Aimee to third in the Club class, eighth overall.
Despite falling to her lowest position of the race so far, a personal best time on lap 13 allowed her to remain in contention for a third Club class victory of the weekend. Tiley had caught Hall and both drivers were looking for a way ahead of Simon Baldwin and therefore opportunities remained in the closing stages.
On lap 14, Tiley spun exiting Druids and hit the barrier which promoted Watts into second position. A strong end to the race saw her take the checkered flag in second position within the Club class, seventh overall, to complete an excellent season.
Although Watts was unable to secure the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 Supercup Championship Club class title, she finished as vice-champion to Ollie Hall. Both drivers continued their phenomenal record of finishing every race during the season and this ensure that the title fight went down to the final event.
Watts has taken significant steps forward during the 2024 season and has regularly battled with the Pro class drivers in a campaign in which she scored six Club class wins.
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