There wasn’t much national motorsport in the UK last weekend, but even so there are four drivers moving up inside the top 10 of the Autosport National Rankings.
Junior Saloons ace Ollie Smith is the highest-placed of them. The Citroen Saxo-based series in which he competes was in action at Brands Hatch on the support card of the Touring Car Rewind extravaganza.
Of the three races, Smith won one of them and has therefore moved onto 11 victories for the season. This inches him up one place to third in the Rankings, level with second-placed Legends form man Chris Needham, who gets the verdict owing to his higher average grid size.
Needham and Smith are still adrift of leader Connor Kay, who had no opportunity to build upon his 13 Rankings wins at the weekend.
The Autosport National Rankings is based on the simple premise of totalling each driver’s wins in car races in the UK and Ireland across the season, with each counting equally – whether it be the 24-hour EnduroKa race at Anglesey or a Legends heat.
Next upwards mover behind Smith is Lewis Barker. He’s been doing extremely well this season in the 750MC’s Hot Hatch series, but branched out last weekend with his Honda Civic by taking part in the Racing Hondas double-header at Snetterton.
Barker won his class in both races and is therefore up nine places to sixth in the Rankings. Overall winner in those Racing Hondas events was Bob Barron, who therefore scythes his way up 29 positions to 18th.
The action on the Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit last weekend has provided us with the other three upwards movers in the upper half of the Rankings top 50.
Jake McAleer continued on his merry winning way in the Porsche Club series, and his undefeated double at the home of the British Grand Prix in his 997S has hoisted him 17 places to eighth.
Gilbert Yates has dominated the Ferrari Challenge UK but stepped up to GT3 machinery to compete in the GT Cup, sharing a McLaren 720S with son Bradley. Their victory in one of the two races has lifted Yates Sr six positions to 10th.
Meanwhile, Ethan Hall has been the standout in the Boxster Cup series this season. They were merged with the Porsche Club brigade at Silverstone, with Hall’s double promoting him 25 positions to 21st.
Autosport National Driver Rankings
| Pos | Driver (Car) | Overall | Class | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Connor Kay (Lotus Elan 26R/MG Midget/TVR Tuscan) | 8 | 5 | 13 |
| 2 | Chris Needham (Legends Ford Coupe) | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| 3 | Ollie Smith (Citroen Saxo VTR) | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| 4 | Callum Grant (Merlyn Mk20A/Merlyn Mk5/7/Van Diemen/March 79B) | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| 5 | Craig Ewing (Mazda MX-5 Mk1) | 9 | 1 | 10 |
| 6 | Lewis Barker (Honda Civic Type R) | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| 7 | George Line (Dallara F308) | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 8 | Jake McAleer (Porsche 997S) | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 9 | Matt Higginson (Jedi Mk6/7) | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 10 | Gilbert Yates (Ferrari 296 Challenge/McLaren 720S GT3 Evo) | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 11 | Aaron Thompson (SHP Pickup) | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 12 | William Antrobus (Ginetta G56 GTP/Mazda MX-5 Mk3) | 8 | 1 | 9 |
| 13 | Jacob Heap (Mini Cooper) | 0 | 9 | 9 |
| 14 | Dara McInerney (Ford Fiesta Zetec S) | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 15 | Jordan Pimley (Mazda MX-5 Mk1) | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 16 | Oli Willmott (Mini Cooper S) | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 17 | Ben Glasswell (Reynard SF77) | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 18 | Bob Barron (Honda Civic EG) | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 19 | Jim Larkham (Radical PR6) | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 20 | Michael Saunders (TVR Tuscan Challenge) | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| 21 | Ethan Hall (Porsche Boxster S 986) | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| 22 | Peter Keen (BMW 116i) | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| 23 | Warren Allen (Porsche Cayman S) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 24 | Ash Sutton (Ford Focus Titanium) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 25 | Aaron Cooke (Legends Ford Coupe) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 26 | Dan Polley (WEV Vee) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 27 | Eddie Mawer (Locost Ma7da) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 28 | Luke Cooper (Swift SC20/Swift SC92F) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 29 | James Hughes (Austin-Healey Sprite/Austin-Healey Lenham Sprite/Lotus Elan 26R) | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| 30 | Anton Landon (Cyana Mk2) | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| 31 | Jamie Ellwood (Caterham 7 Sigma 135) | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 32 | Shaun Traynor (Toyota MR2 Mk2/Toyota MR2 Roadster) | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 33 | Luis Beilicke (Ginetta G56 GTA) | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 34 | Jack Ashton (Rover Metro 100) | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| 35 | Alistair May (Citroen C1) | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 36 | Alex Ames (Brabham BT6/Van Diemen/Jaguar E-type Lightweight) | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 37 | Lewis Goff (Ginetta G40 Junior Evo) | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 38 | Tom Gadd (Van Diemen RF81) | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 39 | Brian Thornton (Caterham 7 270R) | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 40 | Michael Gibbins (MCR S2n) | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 41 | Adam Sparrow (Mazda MX-5 Mk1) | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 42 | Ali Topley (Ford Focus Cup ST300) | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 43 | Corey Webber (Honda Civic) | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 44 | James Cossins (Mazda MX-5 Mk3) | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 45 | Joe Marshall (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport) | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 46 | Richard Davies (Caterham 7 Roadsport) | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 47 | Tyler Read (Legends Ford Coupe) | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 48 | Michelle Hayward (Phantom P82TR) | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 49 | Neven Kirkpatrick (Classic Mini 1275) | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 50 | Richard Kearney (Sheane FS01) | 6 | 0 | 6 |
All car races in the UK and Ireland are included except qualification/repechage, consolation and handicap races. No races in other countries.
Class wins are only counted when there are at least six starters in the class, except: when the race is part of a multi-stage event where six or more have taken part in earlier heats that feed into a semi-final or final; when multiple championships are merged in the same race, the ‘overall’ winner from the slower championship can count a class win as long as that championship has at least 10 starters across all classes.
Only classes divided by car characteristics are included, not those divided by driver characteristics such as ability, professional status, age, experience (for example rookie or pro-am classes).
Each race counts only once, so an overall winner’s class win is not added. Where there is a tie, overall wins take precedence. Where there is still a tie, average grid size for a driver’s wins determines the order.
