Antrobus knocking on door at top of Autosport National Rankings

Ginetta car-racing rookie leaps up to second

Ginetta GT Championship find of the season William Antrobus has leapt into second place in the Autosport National Rankings – firmly in contention for the top spot.

The young karting graduate took a clean sweep of all three races at Snetterton over the weekend to move himself onto a total of 12 victories for the season – but these are not all in the meaty G56 machinery, because he’s also undertaken some races in the Mazda MX-5 Supercup.

That Snetterton success means a move up 11 places for Antrobus in the Rankings table, and the Cheshire teenager sits just one place and one Rankings win adrift of top dog Connor Kay, the historics ace who was not in action over the weekend.

The Autosport National Rankings attempts to find the most successful driver across the car racing season in the UK and Ireland by adding their race victories together, with each counting equally – whether it was the Formula E races at London’s Excel or a VSCC event at Mallory Park.

Antrobus is not the only high-placed upwards mover in the table this week. The drivers now sitting in third and fourth positions have also moved into threatening positions.

After his recent successful foray into the Racing Hondas series, Lewis Barker returned to his customary 750MC Hot Hatch stomping ground at Silverstone to win both races in his Civic Type R, moving him up five positions to third.

Lewis Barker

Photo by: Gary Hawkins

Meanwhile, at Brands Hatch, Fiesta Juniors force Dara McInerney claimed a hat-trick across the three races, and he is up 12 spots to fourth.

The next three climbers in the table were all in action at Silverstone. The 750MC put on a total of five races for Formula Vee – two for its regular contingent, two for the Irish championship and a match race bringing them together. Dan Polley may be Irish, but he competes in the 750MC ranks and won both races there in his WEV, plus the joint event, and is up 24 places to 10th. F1000 ace Matt Higginson topped the Rankings early in the season and scored a win at Silverstone, but due to the multiple winners who were immediately behind him in the table that means he can only remain in 11th position. Peter Keen added another pair of class wins in the 116 Sprint/120 Coupe series to vault 15 spots to 13th.

While Antrobus is starring in the Ginetta G56 Championship, German Luis Beilicke is usually emerging as top dog from the G56 Academy that runs with it. His triple at Snetterton means a big leap from 39th to 14th.

The other climber in the top 20 is Metro Cup king Jack Ashton, whose two class wins at Brands bring him up 21 positions to 19th.

Autosport National Driver Rankings

Pos	Driver (Car)	Overall	Class	Total
1	Connor Kay (Lotus Elan 26R/MG Midget/TVR Tuscan)	8	5	13
2	William Antrobus (Ginetta G56 GTP/Mazda MX-5 Mk3)	11	1	12
3	Lewis Barker (Honda Civic Type R)	10	2	12
4	Dara McInerney (Ford Fiesta Zetec S)	11	0	11
5	Oli Willmott (Mini Cooper S)	11	0	11
6	Chris Needham (Legends Ford Coupe)	11	0	11
7	Ollie Smith (Citroen Saxo VTR)	11	0	11
8	Aaron Thompson (SHP Pickup)	11	0	11
9	Callum Grant (Merlyn Mk20A/Merlyn Mk5/7/Van Diemen/March 79B)	10	0	10
10	Dan Polley (WEV Vee)	10	0	10
11	Matt Higginson (Jedi Mk6/7)	10	0	10
12	Craig Ewing (Mazda MX-5 Mk1)	9	1	10
13	Peter Keen (BMW 116i)	3	7	10
14	Luis Beilicke (Ginetta G56 GTA)	3	7	10
15	George Line (Dallara F308)	9	0	9
16	Jake McAleer (Porsche 997S)	9	0	9
17	Gilbert Yates (Ferrari 296 Challenge/McLaren 720S GT3 Evo)	9	0	9
18	Jack Robinson (Jaguar XK8/Jaguar XJR6)	7	2	9
19	Jack Ashton (Rover Metro 100)	2	7	9
20	Jacob Heap (Mini Cooper)	0	9	9
21	Jordan Pimley (Mazda MX-5 Mk1)	8	0	8
22	Brian Thornton (Caterham 7 270R)	8	0	8
23	Warren Allen (Porsche Cayman S)	8	0	8
24=	Ben Glasswell (Reynard SF77)	8	0	8
24=	Ash Sutton (Ford Focus Titanium)	8	0	8
26	Eddie Mawer (Locost 7 Ma7da)	8	0	8
27	Bob Barron (Honda Civic EG)	8	0	8
28	Luke Cooper (Swift SC20/Swift SC92F)	8	0	8
29	Jim Larkham (Radical PR6)	8	0	8
30	Michael Saunders (TVR Tuscan Challenge)	7	1	8
31	Ethan Hall (Porsche Boxster S 986)	6	2	8
32	Jamie Ellwood (Caterham 7 Sigma 135)	5	3	8
33	Anton Landon (Cyana Mk2/Fisher Fury)	5	3	8
34	Tom Gadd (Van Diemen RF81)	7	0	7
35	Corey Webber (Honda Civic)	7	0	7
36	Steve Foden (Mazda MX-5 Mk1)	7	0	7
37	Aaron Cooke (Legends Ford Coupe)	7	0	7
38	Richard Davies (Caterham 7 Roadsport)	7	0	7
39	Mark Thomson (Radical SR10 XXR)	7	0	7
40	Daniel Robinson (Ford Fiesta ST150)	5	2	7
41	James Hughes (Austin-Healey Sprite/Austin-Healey Lenham Sprite/Lotus Elan 26R)	5	2	7
42=	Shaun Traynor (Toyota MR2 Mk2/Toyota MR2 Roadster)	3	4	7
42=	Chris Roberts (BMW M4)	3	4	7
44=	Pedro Oliveira (Radical SR3)	0	7	7
44=	Adam Morrison (Mini Cooper S)	0	7	7
46	Matthew Highcock (Mazda MX-5 Mk1)	6	0	6
47	Alistair May (Citroen C1)	6	0	6
48	Alex Ames (Brabham BT6/Van Diemen/Jaguar E-type Lightweight)	6	0	6
49	Lewis Goff (Ginetta G40 Junior Evo)	6	0	6
50	Richard Jepp (Peugeot 108)	6	0	6

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.