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Cullen's latest strikes send him second in Autosport National Driver Rankings

Another two Irish Stryker victories not only helped Michael Cullen clinch the championship but have also moved him up to second in the Autosport National Driver Rankings.

Michael Cullen 0957ALt

Cullen has been the class of the field this season and extended his unbeaten run with another two wins at Mondello Park last weekend - although he did face a stern threat from Jonathan Taylor in the opener.

Add in his victories in the Fiesta ST category, as well as a class triumph in a Lotus Cortina, and it means he has registered 13 triumphs so far in 2021, now putting him only four behind runaway table-topper Cam Jackson, as he's moved from sixth to second in the rankings.

Cullen was not the only unbeaten champion on the march, as BCV8 dominator Ollie Neaves also registered two more wins at Snetterton - despite falling behind Neil Fowler briefly at the start of race one.

Those latest wins mean Neaves has jumped up from 11th to fourth on the leaderboard - one victory behind Cullen.

Other drivers to improve in the top 10 included Caterham ace Harry Senior, who took an overall and a SigMax class victory at Pembrey - as car racing returned to the venue for the first time in almost two years last weekend.

Those successes mean he has surged up from 15th to sixth - and had he been able to defeat Stephen Clark for the overall win in race two, Senior would have improved by a further place.

Completing the drivers on the march in the top 10 was Ben Short, another driver to be crowned champion early.

 

He took one win at Brands Hatch to secure the MX-5 Cup title - for Mk1 versions of the sportscar - but came inches away from adding another and moving up more than the one place he gained to take seventh.

Further back, Michael Winkworth registered another Mini Se7en S Class win at Pembrey to jump six places to 18th.

Sam Kirkpatrick had already clinched the MG Trophy championship ahead of the weekend, so was able to focus on his historic racing at Snetterton and took a double Equipe GTS win in his family MGB to gain 21 places to move to 22nd.

Another driver in impressive form over the weekend was Alex Walker, the Kevin Mills driver twice taking National Formula Ford 1600 glory as the series featured on the British GT support bill at Oulton Park.

Those wins mean he has moved from outside the top 50 into 36th spot in the rankings.

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 Michael Cullen (Stryker/Ford Fiesta ST/Lotus Cortina) 10 3 13
3 Miles Rudman (Legends 34 Ford Coupe) 12 0 12
4 Ollie Neaves (MGB GTV8) 12 0 12
5 Barry McMahon (Alfa Romeo 156/Alfa Romeo Giulietta) 10 2 12
6 Harry Senior (Caterham 7 SigMax) 9 3 12
7 Ben Short (Mazda MX-5 Mk1) 11 0 11
8 Alistair Camp (Honda Civic EP3) 11 0 11
9 Nic Grindrod (Citroen C1) 11 0 11
10 Dave Griffin (BMW M3 E36) 6 5 11
11 Richard Neary (Mercedes-AMG GT3) 10 0 10
12 Sam Neary (Mercedes-AMG GT3) 10 0 10
13 Lewis Thompson (Caterham 310R) 10 0 10
14 Rod Birley (Ford Escort Cosworth WRC) 10 0 10
15 Scott Parkin (Volkswagen Golf/Ford Focus 2.0 TDCI Zetec S/Ford Ka) 9 1 10
16 Jon Woolfitt (Spire GTR) 8 2 10
17 Andy Smith (March 783/March 742) 8 2 10
18 Michael Winkworth (Mini Se7en S) 0 10 10
19 Dan Gore (Jedi Mk6) 9 0 9
20 Brad Sheehan (BMW E46 M3) 9 0 9
21 Oliver White (Medina Sport JL17K) 9 0 9
22 Sam Kirkpatrick (MG ZR 190/MGB) 9 0 9
23 Stefano Leaney (Dallara F317) 9 0 9
24 James Harridge (Maverick Vee) 2 7 9
25 John Davison (Lotus Elan S1/Lotus Elan 26R/Lotus Elite) 2 7 9
26 David Drinkwater (BMW Compact) 0 9 9
27 Josh Steed (Ginetta G40 GT5) 8 0 8
28= Sam Smith (Mazda MX-5 Mk3/Mazda MX-5 Mk1) 8 0 8
28= Simon Clark (Porsche Cayman S) 8 0 8
30 Steven Dailly (BMW E36 Compact 318Ti) 8 0 8
31 Niall Bradley (BMW E46 M3) 8 0 8
32 Charlie Hand (Citroen Saxo VTR) 8 0 8
33 Adam Shepherd (Honda Civic Type R) 8 0 8
34 Steve McDermid (MG ZR 170) 8 0 8
35 Dave Cockell (Ford Escort Cosworth) 8 0 8
36 Alex Walker (Spectrum 011) 8 0 8
37 Theo Edgerton (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport) 8 0 8
38 Jim Larkham (Radical PR06) 8 0 8
39 Aaron Cooke (Toyota MR2 Roadster) 7 1 8
40 Gary Prebble (Honda Civic EG/SEAT Leon Cupra 20v T) 5 3 8
41 Marc Warren (Ginetta G40 Cup) 0 8 8
42 Ben Pearson (BMW E46 330Ci) 0 8 8
43 Ben Stiles (Van Diemen RF82) 0 8 8
44 Jack Brewer (Mazda MX-5 Mk1) 7 0 7
45 Callum Voisin (Ginetta G40 Junior) 7 0 7
46 Mike Williams (Rover Metro GTI) 7 0 7
47 Shane Murphy (SEAT Leon) 7 0 7
48 Adam Smalley (Ginetta G55 GT4) 7 0 7
49 Alex Cursley (Hyundai Coupe) 7 0 7
50 Matt Bell (Radical SR3) 7 0 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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