Cullen storms up to fifth in Autosport National Driver Rankings
A successful weekend for Michael Cullen, featuring class wins in two different countries, has propelled the Irishman to fifth in Autosport's National Driver Rankings.
Cullen has been the pacesetter all season in the predominantly Mondello Park-based Irish Stryker series and that continued as the category made the trip north of the border to Kirkistown on Saturday.
He won the Stryker element of two races combined with the Roadsports division to take his ninth and 10th triumphs of 2021.
Cullen then headed across the Irish Sea to Oulton Park for the Gold Cup meeting, where he won his class in the second Historic Touring Car race on Monday in a Lotus Cortina, a victory that means he has gained 22 places on the leaderboard.
The only other change inside the top 10 of the winners' table on a busy bank holiday weekend of club motorsport was BMW M3 E36 pilot Dave Griffin triumphing in both of the Pre-93 and Pre-03 Classic Touring Car races at Cadwell Park on Monday, sending him from 18th to sixth spot.
Further down the table, Andy Smith jumped up 20 places from 35th after taking three successes over the Oulton Historic Sports Car Club meeting.
While the Gold Cup for the aggregate Formula 2 winner eluded him when engine woes struck his BDG-powered March 742, he did still win the opening contest as well as taking two Classic F3 class victories in his 783.
Completing the HSCC victors on the rise in the top 25 was John Davison, who piloted his Lotus Elan to class glory in the Historic Road Sports race to improve by eight positions and grab 21st place.
Davison was also a class winner in the Guards Trophy, but there were fewer than six starters within the smaller GT category and this victory therefore does not count towards his total.
Away from Oulton, Mazda MX-5 ace Sam Smith added an eighth win to his total for the year, taking the spoils in the MX-5 Supercup opener, for Mk3 models of the sportscar, at Cadwell Park to move from 33rd to 24th.
Also enjoying success in Lincolnshire was four-time Compact Cup champion Steven Dailly, who secured another double victory to leap up 24 places and into 25th.
Autosport's most successful national racers so far in 2021
| Pos | Driver (Car) | Overall wins | Class wins | Total |
| 1 | Cam Jackson (Winkelmann WDF2/Brabham BT2) | 17 | 0 | 17 |
| 2 | Miles Rudman (Legends 34 Ford Coupe) | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| 3 | Barry McMahon (Alfa Romeo 156/Alfa Romeo Giulietta) | 10 | 2 | 12 |
| 4 | Alistair Camp (Honda Civic EP3) | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| 5 | Michael Cullen (Stryker/Ford Fiesta ST/Lotus Cortina) | 8 | 3 | 11 |
| 6 | Dave Griffin (BMW M3 E36) | 6 | 5 | 11 |
| 7 | Ben Short (Mazda MX-5 Mk1) | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| 8 | Richard Neary (Mercedes-AMG GT3) | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| 9 | Sam Neary (Mercedes-AMG GT3) | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| 10 | Ollie Neaves (MGB GTV8) | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| 11 | Rod Birley (Ford Escort Cosworth WRC) | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| 12 | Scott Parkin (Volkswagen Golf/Ford Focus 2.0 TDCI Zetec S/Ford Ka) | 9 | 1 | 10 |
| 13 | Harry Senior (Caterham 7 SigMax) | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| 14 | Jon Woolfitt (Spire GTR) | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| 15 | Andy Smith (March 783/March 742) | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| 16 | Dan Gore (Jedi Mk6) | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 17 | Nic Grindrod (Citroen C1) | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 18 | Oliver White (Medina Sport JL17K) | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 19 | Stefano Leaney (Dallara F317) | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 20 | James Harridge (Maverick Vee) | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| 21 | John Davison (Lotus Elan S1/Lotus Elan 26R/Lotus Elite) | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| 22 | Michael Winkworth (Mini Se7en S) | 0 | 9 | 9 |
| 23 | Josh Steed (Ginetta G40 GT5) | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 24 | Sam Smith (Mazda MX-5 Mk3/Mazda MX-5 Mk1) | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 25 | Steven Dailly (BMW E36 Compact 318Ti) | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 26 | Charlie Hand (Citroen Saxo VTR) | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 27 | Adam Shepherd (Honda Civic Type R) | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 28 | Brad Sheehan (BMW E46 M3) | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 29 | Steve McDermid (MG ZR 170) | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 30 | Lewis Thompson (Caterham 310R) | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 31 | Dave Cockell (Ford Escort Cosworth) | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 32 | Theo Edgerton (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport) | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 33 | Jim Larkham (Radical PR06) | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 34 | Gary Prebble (Honda Civic EG/SEAT Leon Cupra 20v T) | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| 35 | Marc Warren (Ginetta G40 Cup) | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| 36 | Ben Stiles (Van Diemen RF82) | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| 37 | Jack Brewer (Mazda MX-5 Mk1) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 38= | Niall Bradley (BMW E46 M3) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 38= | Callum Voisin (Ginetta G40 Junior) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 40 | Sam Kirkpatrick (MG ZR 190) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 41 | Adam Smalley (Ginetta G55 GT4) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 42 | Matt Bell (Radical SR3) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 43 | James Little (Ferrari F355 Challenge/Ferrari 458 Challenge) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 44 | Robert Barrable (Legends Ford Coupe) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 45 | Pete Sparrow (Citroen 2CV) | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| 46 | Jamie Ellwood (Caterham 7 Sigma 150) | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 47 | William Heslop (Porsche Boxster S/Honda Civic Type R) | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| 48 | Marcus Jewell (Lotus Cortina/Ford Capri) | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| 49 | David Drinkwater (BMW Compact) | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| 50 | Nic Carlton-Smith (Kieft FJ) | 0 | 7 | 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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