The 2021 season was a highly successful one for national racing, with two-thirds of clubs enjoying increases in average grid sizes. That meant there was plenty of action to be keeping tabs on, and made it a tricky task to select the top 10 performers across the myriad series.
Here are the drivers that made Autosport's annual list.
10. Alex Walker
2nd in BRSCC National FF1600
Alex Walker’s National Formula Ford 1600 title campaign may have ended in disappointment, but he still made his mark during a strong year in which he scored more poles and wins than anybody else. A switch to Kevin Mills Racing immediately yielded success, with three victories in a row, including a storming drive from eighth at Donington Park. After a difficult couple of rounds mid-season, Walker bounced back with a run of five wins from seven races, before two collisions at the finale cost him the crown to Chris Middlehurst.
9. Lewis Thompson
1st in BRSCC Caterham Seven 310R
Missing the season opener – the only triple-header – to focus on his A-levels wasn’t an ideal way to begin a championship challenge in Caterham 310Rs. But for Lewis Thompson it proved to be little hindrance, and he stormed to victory in the next eight races. The tiniest of blips next time out at Snetterton, where Thompson was twice edged by Pete Walters, was followed by domination of the Cadwell Park finale, and the youngster stylishly took the title in an otherwise very competitive category.
8. Charlie Hand
1st in BARC Junior Saloon Cars
After finishing third in the Junior Saloon Car Championship last year, Charlie Hand was expected to be among the favourites for title honours in 2021. He duly delivered, but it was the manner of his triumph that really stood out. Of the 19 races, Hand won 14 against a packed field, including consecutive hat-tricks at Silverstone and Pembrey mid-season. Off the podium in only one race all year, the Crawley-based teenager capped his year in fitting style by winning both races at the Brands Hatch finale.
7. Lee Morgan
1st in 750MC F1000
F1000 has come a long way since Lee Morgan last won the title in 2013, with stronger – and 70% bigger – grids.
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He added a further five wins to the 36 he’d amassed previously, the majority coming in the first half of the season. But Morgan needed to show great tenacity in the concluding events. A clutch failure at Oulton Park left the Snetterton finale wide open and, in spite of a coolant leak, a startline stall and a pitlane start there, Morgan clung on as rival Dan Gore had an even more disastrous weekend.
6. Miles Rudman
1st in BARC Legends Cars
Securing a second title in a championship as competitive as Legends is no mean feat, yet Miles Rudman arguably made it look easy. Rudman finished fourth in 2020, albeit just 65 points off the top, but was unstoppable this year, securing 17 wins and a further 15 podiums across 48 races. The highlight was at Donington Park, where he took five wins from six. His closest challenger was four-time champion John Mickel, but he couldn’t stop Rudman securing the title with two races to spare.
5. Sam Kirkpatrick
1st in MGCC MG Trophy; two wins in Equipe GTS
While Fred Burgess proved to be a worthy adversary, no one could match the stunning form of university student Sam Kirkpatrick in the MG Trophy. The Cumbrian took his ZR 190 to seven pole positions and seven wins from the first eight races, and secured the title with a weekend to spare. That allowed him to focus on his love of the family MGB, which he duly took to a double triumph in Equipe GTS at Snetterton, having also starred in Equipe’s three-hour relay race at Donington Park in the summer.
4. Alistair Camp
1st in CTA Civic Cup; 2nd overall/1st in class in 750MC Hot Hatch
Twin attacks on the Civic Cup and Hot Hatch championships proved fruitful for Alistair Camp. Last year’s Civic Cup runner-up was the man to beat from the word go in 2021, winning the opening six Hot Hatch races and half of the first 10 in Civic Cup. A slight dip in form allowed Class C dominator David Drinkwater to snatch a third successive overall crown in Hot Hatch, but Camp still claimed Class A and overcame final-round mechanical dramas to thwart Matt Luff’s challenge for the Civic Cup title.
3. Oliver Allwood
1st in BRSCC Mazda MX-5 Championship
Oliver Allwood briefly held the Mazda MX-5 Championship title last year, only to have it taken away after a rival’s penalty was overturned on appeal. After a consistent start, 2021 momentum began to shift his way at Cadwell Park, where he sealed an emphatic clean sweep to close on Jack Brewer. Allwood got the better of his rival again during three feisty Donington Park contests and, helped by an army of AB Motorsport team-mates, came out on top at the Brands Hatch finale to make sure of his first crown.
2. Cam Jackson
1st in HSCC Historic FF1600; 1st in class in Classic FF1600
He’s been the most prolific winner in historic junior single-seaters of the past four or five seasons, but Cam Jackson didn’t set out to take a title in 2021. Even so, he still ended up with his third Historic Formula Ford crown, continuing his strong partnership with preparer Neil Fowler. This year, he started doing some Historic FF1600 races and won eight of the first nine. He missed four due to moving house and racing at Goodwood, but came back for the finale and beat Tom McArthur by eight points.
1. Steven Dailly
1st in BRSCC BMW Compact Cup; one win in BARC Ginetta GT5 Challenge
Another year and another dominant Steven Dailly display in the BMW Compact Cup. There were 10 wins from 14 races for the Scot but, even on the days when he wasn’t winning, there were top-drawer drives. These included a super Donington Park recovery from last to third after gearbox dramas first time around. But what made this year extra-special was his one-off Ginetta GT5 Challenge outing at Croft. A double pole and race-two victory, with little testing, showed he is surely destined for more in 2022.
Entries by Paul Lawrence, Mark Libbeter, Stefan Mackley, Jason Noble, Mark Paulson, Ian Sowman and Steve Whitfield
