Historic single-seater ace Callum Grant has shot to the top of the Autosport National Rankings following his stellar weekend at the Oulton Park Gold Cup meeting.
Grant took no fewer than five race wins across the prestigious event at the Cheshire parkland circuit, to move onto 15 victories for the season.
He scored a double in the Formula Junior races aboard a Merlyn Mk5/7, took a Merlyn Mk20A to a brace of Historic Formula Ford 1600 successes, and only missed out on a clean sweep because he claimed ‘just’ one of the two 1-litre Historic Formula 3 victories in a Brabham BT21B.
That has moved Grant up from ninth position to the pinnacle of the Rankings, in which his closest rivals are on 13 wins.
The Autosport National Rankings is a tally of each driver’s race wins across the car racing season in the UK and Ireland, with each victory counting equally. This year’s has been the closest battle to top the table since the Rankings were reintroduced in 2020 – as a diversion during the COVID lockdown period!
Grant’s success means Legends racer Chris Needham topped the table for just one week. He has moved down to second, while William Antrobus has leapfrogged long table Rankings leader Connor Kay.
Antrobus remains in third place thanks to his single victory from the two Miata Trophy races at Donington Park, although his main programme has been in the Ginetta GT Championship.
Anton Landon
Photo by: Richard Styles
The Miata Trophy is for Mk3 Mazda MX-5 machinery, while it’s an older MX-5 that is the weapon of choice for this week’s other big mover towards the top of the Rankings: Craig Ewing scored a Northern Irish Modi-5 double at Kirkistown to move up eight places to fifth.
There has also been a lot of action in the lower half of the top 25 after the August Bank Holiday weekend of action – all from drivers who scored one victory this time out.
Eddie Mawer’s Ma7da triumph at Snetterton lifts him nine places to 18th; Bob Barron is also up nine after further Racing Hondas success at Brands Hatch to install himself in 19th; Luke Cooper is up eight to 21st after an FF1600 win at Castle Combe with his Swift SC20; Radical PR6 racer Jim Larkham moves up eight to 22nd with a Roadsports win at Kirkistown; and Anton Landon is up nine at 24th thanks to a Sport Specials win at Snetterton with his Cyana Mk2.
Autosport National Driver Rankings
| Pos | Driver (Car) | Overall | Class | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Callum Grant (Merlyn Mk20A/Merlyn Mk5/7/Van Diemen/March 79B/Brabham BT21B) | 15 | 0 | 15 |
| 2 | Chris Needham (Legends Ford Coupe) | 13 | 0 | 13 |
| 3 | William Antrobus (Ginetta G56 GTP/Mazda MX-5 Mk3) | 12 | 1 | 13 |
| 4 | Connor Kay (Lotus Elan 26R/MG Midget/TVR Tuscan) | 8 | 5 | 13 |
| 5 | Craig Ewing (Mazda MX-5 Mk1) | 11 | 1 | 12 |
| 6 | Lewis Barker (Honda Civic Type R) | 10 | 2 | 12 |
| 7 | Dara McInerney (Ford Fiesta Zetec S) | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| 8 | Oli Willmott (Mini Cooper S) | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| 9 | Ollie Smith (Citroen Saxo VTR) | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| 10 | Aaron Thompson (SHP Pickup) | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| 11 | Dan Polley (WEV Vee) | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| 12 | Matt Higginson (Jedi Mk6/7) | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| 13 | Michael Saunders (TVR Tuscan Challenge) | 9 | 1 | 10 |
| 14 | Peter Keen (BMW 116i) | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| 15 | Luis Beilicke (Ginetta G56 GTA) | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| 16 | George Line (Dallara F308) | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 17 | Jake McAleer (Porsche 997S) | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 18 | Eddie Mawer (Locost 7 Ma7da) | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 19 | Bob Barron (Honda Civic EG) | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 20 | Gilbert Yates (Ferrari 296 Challenge/McLaren 720S GT3 Evo) | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 21 | Luke Cooper (Swift SC20/Swift SC92F) | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 22 | Jim Larkham (Radical PR6) | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 23 | Jack Robinson (Jaguar XK8/Jaguar XJR6) | 7 | 2 | 9 |
| 24 | Anton Landon (Cyana Mk2/Fisher Fury) | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| 25 | Jack Ashton (Rover Metro 100) | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| 26 | Jacob Heap (Mini Cooper) | 0 | 9 | 9 |
| 27 | Jordan Pimley (Mazda MX-5 Mk1) | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 28 | Brian Thornton (Caterham 7 270R) | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 29 | Warren Allen (Porsche Cayman S) | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 30= | Ben Glasswell (Reynard SF77) | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 30= | Ash Sutton (Ford Focus Titanium) | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 32 | Rod Birley (Ford Escort WRC/BMW E36) | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| 33 | Ethan Hall (Porsche Boxster S 986) | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| 34 | Jamie Ellwood (Caterham 7 Sigma 135) | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| 35 | Mike Williamson (Mitsubishi Evo 4) | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| 36 | Alex Ames (Brabham BT6/Van Diemen/Jaguar E-type Lightweight) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 37 | Tom Gadd (Van Diemen RF81) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 38 | Ali Topley (Ford Focus Cup ST300) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 39 | Corey Webber (Honda Civic) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 40 | Steve Foden (Mazda MX-5 Mk1) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 41 | Aaron Cooke (Legends Ford Coupe) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 42 | Richard Davies (Caterham 7 Roadsport) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 43= | Mark Thomson (Radical SR10 XXR) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 43= | Neven Kirkpatrick (Classic Mini 1275) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 45 | Callum Voisin (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 46 | Greg Jenkins (Rover Mini) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 47 | Jack Irvine (Mini Cooper) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 48 | Paul Cook (BMW M3 E46) | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| 49 | Daniel Robinson (Ford Fiesta ST150) | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| 50 | James Hughes (Austin-Healey Sprite/Austin-Healey Lenham Sprite/Lotus Elan 26R) | 5 | 2 | 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, 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.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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