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Autosport
Autosport
National
Marcus Simmons

Kellett climbs into Autosport National Driver Rankings top 10

Khera had headed the leaderboard since Autosport began producing the 2022 tables in late May until last week, when he was unseated by Focus Cup and Scottish Fiesta ST Cup star Liam McGill.

But, while Khera has now drawn level with McGill's tally of 14 wins so far this year, because six of those have been class successes, he remains in second place.

Khera's latest triumph came in the Castle Combe GT category on bank holiday Monday, when he dominated in his Lamborghini Huracan and set a new series lap record.

However, with Khera staying in second, you have to go down to the other end of the top 10 to find this week's first improver.

Kellett has dominated the Ginetta category so far this year and registered another two wins at Thruxton, despite missing out on pole position for the first time this campaign.

Those wins have enabled him to jump up from 18th place to ninth, but a frightening crash between Mike Brown and Colin White in the second contest meant there was insufficient time to run the third GT4 Supercup race, thereby denying Kellett the potential to climb further up the top 10.

Another driver to claim two wins among the British Touring Car supports around the Hampshire speedbowl was British Formula 4 dominator Alex Dunne.

He won both the first and third encounters from pole to take his series lead to over 100 points and put him on the brink of securing the title. It also allowed him to gain eight spots in the rankings and move to 11th.

REPORT: Dunne makes F4 history at Thruxton

One racer who has already clinched their 2022 crown is Sports 1000 competitor Rich Webb.

The Spire pilot picked up another two wins at Brands Hatch, despite being stuck in fourth gear on the final lap of the second race, to secure the championship in style.

Rich Webb (Photo by: Gary Hawkins)

It also meant he joined Kellett and Dunne on 11 wins for the year, sending him from 20th to 12th.

That is one position ahead of the final driver in the quartet to move to 11 victories: Steven Larkham.

He was again in impressive form at Kirkistown as he won both Roadsports races in his Radical to improve by nine places.

Also in Northern Ireland, David McCullough clinched the Formula Ford title with another win but was taken out of the lead of the opener, restricting him to moving up by three spots into 20th.

That is two places ahead of one of the most notable movers of the week as Michael O'Brien claimed the honours in each of the Formula Junior bouts at the Silverstone Classic to leap up by 25 places.

Benn Simms was a class winner in each of those races but only the first counts towards the rankings, as there was not the required six starters in the class in race two.

He therefore jumps from 37th to 26th, but would've boosted his position by a further five spots if both successes could be counted.

Autosport's most successful national racers so far in 2022

Pos Driver (Car) Overall wins Class wins Total
1 Liam McGill (Ford Focus 2.0 TDCI Zetec S/Ford Fiesta ST) 14 0 14
2 Lucky Khera (Ferrari 488 Challenge/BMW E46/Lamborghini Huracan GT3/McLaren 720S GT3) 8 6 14
3 Ben Short (Mazda MX-5 Mk1) 12 0 12
4 Will Gibson (34 Ford Coupe) 12 0 12
5 Samuel Harrison (Merlyn Mk20/Chevron B15) 12 0 12
6 Miles Rudman (34 Ford Coupe) 11 0 11
7 Dave Cockell (Ford Escort Cosworth) 11 0 11
8 Jon Woolfitt (Spire GTR) 11 0 11
9 James Kellett (Ginetta G56 GT4) 11 0 11
10 George Turiccki (SHP Pickup) 11 0 11
11 Alex Dunne (Tatuus T-421) 11 0 11
12 Richard Webb (Spire RGBR) 11 0 11
13 Steven Larkham (Radical PR6) 11 0 11
14 Jamie Winrow (Caterham 7 Sigma 135) 8 3 11
15 David Drinkwater (BMW Compact) 0 11 11
16 Fraser Fenwick (Mazda MX-5 Mk1) 10 0 10
17 Harry Senior (Caterham 7 Sigma 150) 10 0 10
18 Jordan Dempsey (Spectrum 011) 10 0 10
19 Stewart Black (Ford Coupe) 10 0 10
20 David McCullough (Van Diemen RF01) 10 0 10
21 Mike Williamson (Mitsubishi Evo 4) 4 6 10
22 Michael O’Brien (Brabham BT6/McLaren 720S GT3) 9 0 9
23 Steve McDermid (MG ZR 170) 9 0 9
24 Michael Cullen (Stryker/Lotus Cortina/Ford Fiesta ST) 9 0 9
25 Geoff Richardson (Legends Ford Coupe) 9 0 9
26 Benn Simms (Reynard SF77/Caravelle Mk2) 7 2 9
27 Craig Land (Locost 7) 6 3 9
28 Peter Baxter (SEAT Leon) 6 3 9
29 Dave Griffin (BMW E36 M3) 5 4 9
30 Alastair Topley (Toyota MR2 Mk2/Elva Courier) 1 8 9
31 Michelle Hayward (Mallock U2 Mk23) 0 9 9
32 Jasver Sapra (BMW E46 M3) 8 0 8
33 Nelson King (Mini Cooper) 8 0 8
34= Craig Pollard (WEV Vee) 8 0 8
34= Jamie Boot (TVR Griffith) 8 0 8
36 Joshua Law (MCR S2) 8 0 8
37 Mikey Doble (BMW E36 Compact 318Ti) 8 0 8
38 Patrick Blakeney-Edwards (Frazer Nash Super Sports/Frazer Nash Monoposto/Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza) 8 0 8
39 Wayne Marrs (Ferrari F355 Challenge/Mercedes-AMG GT3) 8 0 8
40 James Wheeler (MGB GTV8) 8 0 8
41 Nikolas Taylor (Tatuus F4-TO14) 8 0 8
42 Richard Kearney (Sheane FS01) 8 0 8
43 Bryan Bransom (BMW E46 M3) 7 1 8
44 Mark Holme (Austin-Healey 3000 MkII/MGB Roadster) 4 4 8
45 Derek Graham (Ford Fiesta Zetec) 4 4 8
46 Lee Piercey (BMW E36) 0 8 8
47 David Russell (BMW E36 3 Series) 0 8 8
48 Zac Blackwell (Mini Cooper S R56) 0 8 8
49 Philip Wright (Honda Civic Type R) 7 0 7
50 Ollie Neaves (MGB GTV8) 7 0 7

All car races in 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. Only classes divided by car characteristics are included. Classes divided by driver characteristics such as ability, professional status, age, experience (for example rookie or Pro-Am classes) are not included.

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.

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