Gambrell the early leader as Ryan Motorsport Insurance Autosport National Rankings return

The UK racing season is now two months old so it is time to restart the Ryan Motorsport Insurance Autosport National Rankings and racing rookie Steve Gambrell is the surprise early pacesetter.

It may be Gambrell’s first season but he has defied that lack of experience to already notch up seven wins across a variety of categories in his Porsche.

He has enjoyed Britcar Endurance Championship success alongside British Touring Car racer Dan Lloyd (including at Silverstone last weekend) and has also been triumphant in the Classic Sports Car Club’s Slicks Series and the British Racing & Sports Car Club’s Pro Sports Sprint division to be the early table-topper.

For those not familiar with Autosport’s winners’ table, it is based on the simple premise of determining the most successful drivers in terms of race wins. Any victory in a UK circuit racing contest counts the same – be it Ash Sutton’s victories in the BTCC or Josh Selvadorai’s wins in his humble Junior Saloons-spec Citroen Saxo. 

Class victories also count, provided there were a minimum of six starters in the division.

Behind Gambrell, his closest rival currently is Ali Bray – the team boss of the front-running AB Motorsport Mazda MX-5 squad has been enjoying wins of his own behind the wheel and sits one below Gambrell on six triumphs.

Also on six is BMW M3 pilot Ian Bower, while Lotus Elan and TVR Tuscan driver Connor Kay, another MX-5 competitor Aidan Hills, and Ginetta Junior’s Red Bull-backed pacesetter Rocco Coronel are all on five.

Further down the table, among those having a successful weekend was Gary Prebble – who finished at the top of the leaderboard back in 2020. He won all three Track Action races at Thruxton to sit in 25th place.

For more information about the range of insurance policies that Ryan offers, please head to ryanmi.com.

Ryan Motorsport Insurance Autosport National Rankings

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.