A young Mearns mum has overcome personal tragedy, and a badly damaged bike, to scoop one of Scottish racing’s top motorcycle awards.
Christine Watson, 30, used two bikes over the season, to secure an impressive ten wins, seven runner-up spots and two third places on her way to the coveted Knockhill Motorsports Club’s 2017 Calder Millerfield Cup.
Men over 50 and women not finishing in the overall top five for the season are eligible to win the trophy, with the championship decided over 20 races at the famous Fife circuit.
The decision whether or not to race last season was a difficult one. Watson lost her father, North East MSP Alex Johnstone, after a short illness, and her grandmother over the winter break.
Deciding to press ahead, she kept one of her father’s treasured cotton hankies in the inside pocket of her racing leathers during every one of her races.
Watson’s team, CWRacing74, is very much a family affair. Husband Watty is the chief mechanic, and their sons Cameron, 8, and Steven, 6, are apprentices and moto-cross enthusiasts in their own right.
Christine, who lives in Fordoun, near Laurencekirk, said: “It’s been a challenging season.
“Although I only failed to finish one race through mechanical failure, I crashed heavily and damaged my bike during qualifying, but thankfully one of my rivals stepped in and very generously gave me a loan of his bike for two races until my own bike was repaired to good enough standard to race again.”
Her success was achieved on a Suzuki SV650 supertwin saw in the first half of the season, with an upgrade to a Kawasaki ER6.
“I’m also very grateful to my sponsors, Donald Rae & sons engineering, Park House wedding barn and farm and D&H fabrications, Edinburgh. Without their support, it would be extremely difficult to continue racing.”
The win marks significant progress in the sport for Watson, who did not even have a motorcycle licence until around eight years ago, but was inspired to take up racing after being given a track day at Knockhill with 23-time Isle of Man TT winner John McGuinness, Denis Hobbs and Niall Mackenzie in August 2014.
Watson, whose race number 74 reflects the April 7 date of the couple’s wedding anniversary added: “This coming season, I’m aiming to better my lap times and fight to be nearer the front of the pack. I’m always conscious though, that none of this would be possible without the unwavering support of my family, sponsors and friends.”
