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National

Cullen just misses out on moving into Autosport National Driver Rankings top spot

That pair of victories not only netted him the title again but also sent him to 16 wins for the year, level with our table-topper Ryan McLeish. However, a smaller average number of starters for Cullen's victories means he only climbs from fifth to third.

He was also in action in the Fiesta ST series and, although he wrapped up another crown, he was beaten in both races and therefore missed a golden chance of moving into first place in the winners' table.

Away from Mondello, there is only one other change in the top 10 of the rankings following last weekend's action and that comes courtesy of Callum Grant.

He twice defeated Benn Simms in thrilling Silverstone Historic Formula Ford 1600 battles to take his 2023 tally to 13 and he was also in the thick of the Classic FF1600 fight but could not quite add further success. Grant therefore has to settle for a gain of 11 places to move to ninth.

Both of the Historic FF2000 victors are other drivers to move up the table. Champion Graham Fennymore won the Silverstone season finale to take his total to 11 wins for the year and enable him to leap seven spots to 16th.

The opening race was claimed by Historic F3 title winner Samuel Harrison on his series debut. That success, combined with class honours in a shared Brabham BT5 in the Guards Trophy, have sent last year's rankings leader from 47th to 29th.

The two Oulton Park Kumho BMW conquerors are also notable movers this week. Jason West took the second win in a red-flagged contest to jump six places to 19th.

Harrison [left] won the opening Historic F3 race of the weekend and has leapt up the rankings (Photo by: Michael Chester)

Race-one winner Bryan Bransom, meanwhile, hot-footed it from Oulton on Saturday to Donington Park on Sunday where he also scored a Britcar Trophy triumph alongside Jas Sapra to improve by 17 positions and rise to 23rd.

Autosport's most successful national racers so far in 2023

Pos Driver (Car) Overall wins Class wins Total
1 Ryan McLeish (Legends Ford Coupe) 16 0 16
2 Freddie Slater (Ginetta G40 Junior) 16 0 16
3 Michael Cullen (Raw Stryker/Ford Fiesta ST/Austin Mini Cooper S) 16 0 16
4 James Clarke (Phantom PR22) 14 1 15
5 Lucas Romanek (Van Diemen JL13) 14 0 14
6 Aidan Hills (Mazda MX-5 Mk3/Ginetta G40 GT5) 13 1 14
7 Dan Silvester (Toyota MR2 Mk2/Honda Civic) 4 10 14
8 Daire Flock (Citroen Saxo VTR) 13 0 13
9 Callum Grant (Merlyn Mk20A/Van Diemen RF91) 12 1 13
10 Steve Foden (Mazda MX-5 Mk1) 12 0 12
11 Ash Sutton (Ford Focus ST) 12 0 12
12 Stewart Black (Legends Ford Coupe) 12 0 12
13 Luke Reade (Ginetta G56 GT4) 12 0 12
14 Jonathan Lovell (Porsche Boxster S) 11 1 12
15 Elliot Lettis (Peugeot 107) 11 0 11
16 Graham Fennymore (Reynard SF81) 11 0 11
17 Jake Hill (BMW 330e M Sport/Nissan Primera GT/Ford Capri III 3.0S) 11 0 11
18 Steve McDermid (MG ZR 170/MG ZR 190) 11 0 11
19 Jason West (BMW M3 E46) 11 0 11
20 Nick White (Ginetta G56 GTA) 11 0 11
21 Ravi Ramyead (Ginetta G56 GTA) 11 0 11
22 Matthew Hyde (AHS Dominator) 10 1 11
23 Bryan Bransom (BMW M3 E46) 9 2 11
24 Peter Barrable (Legends Ford Coupe) 9 2 11
25 Mathieu Gauthier-Thornton (Phantom P94) 0 11 11
26 Dan Zelos (Mini Cooper JCW) 10 0 10
27 Andrew Graham (Triumph TR8/MGB) 10 0 10
28 Tom Mills (Tatuus F4-TO14) 10 0 10
29 Samuel Harrison (Brabham BT21B/Reynard SF79/Brabham BT5) 9 1 10
30 Gordon Duncan (Radical PR6) 9 1 10
31 Scott Parkin (Volkswagen Golf TDI/Audi TTCR) 2 8 10
32 Andrew Young (MGC GT) 0 10 10
33 James Lay (Radical SR3) 9 0 9
34 Freddie Chiddicks (Caterham 7 270R) 9 0 9
35 Michael Gibbins (MCR S2n) 9 0 9
36 Shaun Traynor (Toyota MR2 Roadster) 9 0 9
37 Stephen Berry (Mini Cooper S) 9 0 9
38 Neil Fowler (MGB GTV8) 9 0 9
39 Stewart Place (Peugeot 205 GTI) 9 0 9
40= Jordan Kelly (Van Diemen RF06) 9 0 9
40= Steven Larkham (Radical PR6) 9 0 9
42 Phil Wright (Honda Civic EP3) 9 0 9
43 Cameron Fenton (Global GT Light) 5 4 9
44 Gary Prebble (Honda Civic/SEAT Leon Cupra 20v T) 2 7 9
45 Graham Moore (GMS Fireblade) 2 7 9
46 Theo Micouris (Radical SR1) 0 9 9
47 Joe Jessup (Honda Civic Type R) 8 0 8
48 Stuart Bliss (Toyota Aygo) 8 0 8
49 Lewis Smith (Mercedes SLK) 8 0 8
50 Ben Wheatley (Caterham 7 Sigma 135) 8 0 8

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, and experience (for example rookie or Pro-Am classes) are not included. 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, the average grid size for a driver’s wins determines the order. 

 

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