Cassey Watson made her senior racing debut at Silverstone at the weekend when she raced in the Club Ginetta Championship. This series is the club racing equivalent of the national Texaco Havoline Ginetta G20 Championship. It's no less competitive for being a club championship though. Having never even sat in a Ginetta G20 before Cassey was unsure of what to expect from the weekend or how competitive she would be.

The weekend got off to a worrying start when it was found that the brake lights did not work on her car meaning it was unable to pass scrutineering. Fortunately she was allowed to take part in Qualifying providing the car was fixed for the races later in the day. The Qualifying was the first session of the day and Cassey faced a huge task of learning all about the car as well as trying to set as fast a time as possible. Cassey took a sensible approach building up gradually while learning the car but never once did she make a mistake and spin the car. Her last lap of the session was her fastest and put her an amazing 5th on the grid. Cassey was extremely pleased and described how the car had felt;

"The car is very different from the junior car I have been driving before. It's very tail happy but I really like it."

After the session her car was weighed and was found to be 33kgs over weight. Even allowing for the fuel that would be burnt up during the race this was a large amount of weight and a lot of it could be removed. This made her performance in qualifying all the more astounding as the weight would have cost her a significant amount of time.

In-between qualifying and the first race it had rained quite heavily and although it stopped before the start, the track was still extremely waterlogged. This made conditions very difficult with several drivers spinning on the parade lap, including pole man Phil Sykes a front runner from the main series. There were no such problems for Cassey though despite her lack of experience in the car. She got a good start away from the lights retaining 5th place. By lap 6 this became 3rd when both Paul and Mick Morgan spun. Cassey kept pushing trying to go as fast as possible without spinning off. Paul Morgan could become a threat later on in the race as he had more experience and had qualified ahead of her. She had no such problems though and crossed the line in a well deserved 3rd position.

Race two was held at the end of the day and by then the sun had been out and the track was back to being completely dry. The grid for the second race was decided by lots, one drawn from the firs four finishers to decide the first four spots and then one for the non finishers with 5th to last drawn after that to decide the rest of the grid. This meant Cassey could potentially get pole but unfortunately she was drawn in 4th place. Still this was still a good spot and another podium was definitely a possibility. She got an amazing start and went straight through the 3 cars ahead of her to lead into the first corner. The drivers ahead of her werenÂ?t expecting this! Their experience in the series showed when they fought back into the next corner dropping Cassey back to 4th again. She stuck to the rear of the top three hanging on impressively to what should have been faster cars. The 2nd and 3rd place drivers, Phil Sykes and Paul Morgan started battling, which allowed Stuart Pearson to draw out a huge lead which he wasn't to lose. But Paul Morgan pushed too hard into Becketts and spun. Cassey was still in touch and so shot past into 3rd place. Morgan spun again on the next lap dropping him a long way behind Cassey. But Morgan has a lot more experience in Ginettas and was soon using every trick in the book to try and get back his podium spot from Cassey. There was about 7 laps left in the 15 minute race and Morgan was gaining every lap. With 1 lap to go he was just over 2 seconds behind Cassey and closing fast. Could Cassey hold on? Coming into the final complex Morgan was just behind Cassey and closing. Entering Woodcote he closed on the rear of her car but he was too late as Cassey flew over the line successfully defending her 3rd place.

Two 3rd places in a car that Cassey had never driven before was better than anyone could have hoped for. She had not made a single mistake all day even in the wet when some of the more experienced drivers were left Spinning like a top! Cassey had continued her amazing record of taking podium places in every car or kart she has ever raced.

For the near Future there is a possibility of another Ginetta race, this time in Sweden. Then next season she will be looking to continue her senior career. In which series has yet to be decided but whatever it is, you can be sure that Cassey will give it 110% and will be looking for more podiums and wins. The future is looking very bright for this young star.