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Jackson keeps Autosport National Driver Rankings lead after vital class win

Cam Jackson maintained his lead in the Autosport National Driver Rankings after scoring a vital Walter Hayes Trophy class victory on a dramatic weekend in the battle for top spot.

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Historic Formula Ford ace Jackson has headed the winners' table throughout the season but his advantage has been steadily reduced by Legends racer Miles Rudman in recent weeks.

Rudman was just one win behind Jackson heading into last weekend and, with the Legends season finale also being held at Brands Hatch, it was set to be a crucial moment in the battle to end the year in first place.

PLUS: The other finely-poised 2021 battle that could face a decisive swing

Jackson struck first by winning the Janet Cesar class for Formula Fords built between 1982-92 in the second heat at Silverstone in a Van Diemen RF90 to take his 2021 tally to 18 victories.

However, he missed out on the chance to add another success when contact from behind sent him spinning out of second place on the final tour of a closely-fought dedicated Janet Cesar heat.

But Rudman then registered a victory of his own as he sealed the Legends title with a win in the opening race on Sunday to reduce the gap to Jackson to one win again.

He then came within moments of taking top spot after the next race, only missing out on the win on the final lap to Dan Clark.

With there now being just four circuit racing events scheduled in 2021, Jackson is on course to top the final leaderboard, having missed out by the narrowest of margins last year, unless Rudman - or some of the other drivers inside the top five - opt to make additional outings in a different series.

Legends champion Rudman is narrowly shy of Jackson's lead, after each added one win to their tally last weekend

Legends champion Rudman is narrowly shy of Jackson's lead, after each added one win to their tally last weekend

Photo by: Gary Hawkins

Away from the battle for first, there were several other changes inside the top 10.

Charlie Hand has been the class of the Junior Saloon Car Championship this year and ended the season in style by taking another two victories at Brands.

These latest triumphs took his 2021 tally to 14 and moved him to fourth on the leaderboard, up from 10th.
While Rudman took just the solitary Legends win, multiple champion John Mickel managed two over the weekend to rocket 16 places up the table and into sixth spot.

Further back, Shane Murphy swapped his regular SEAT Leon for a Ford Fiesta as he took part in the six-hour Fiesta Endurance race at Mondello Park.

He was part of the winning crew, alongside Eoin Murray and Barry English, meaning he leaped nine places up the rankings and into 23rd place.

Walter Hayes Trophy final winner Max Esterson was the only other driver to improve their position last weekend.

The American was in great form during the knockout event, scoring victories in his heat, semi-final and grand final to reenter the top 50 in 39th.

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/Van Diemen RF90) 17 1 18
2 Miles Rudman (Legends 34 Ford Coupe) 17 0 17
3 Michael Cullen (Stryker/Ford Fiesta ST/Lotus Cortina) 12 3 15
4 Charlie Hand (Citroen Saxo VTR) 14 0 14
5 Stefano Leaney (Dallara F317) 14 0 14
6 John Mickel (Legends 34 Ford Coupe) 13 0 13
7 James Little (Ferrari F355 Challenge/Ferrari 458 Challenge/Citroen C1) 13 0 13
8 Scott Parkin (Volkswagen Golf TDI/Ford Focus 2.0 TDCI Zetec S/Ford Ka) 10 3 13
9 Ben Short (Mazda MX-5 Mk1) 12 0 12
10 Alistair Camp (Honda Civic EP3) 12 0 12
11 Nic Grindrod (Citroen C1) 12 0 12
12 Ollie Neaves (MGB GTV8) 12 0 12
13 Lewis Thompson (Caterham 310R) 12 0 12
14 Dan Gore (Jedi Mk6) 11 1 12
15 Rod Birley (Ford Escort Cosworth WRC) 11 1 12
16 Andy Smith (March 783/March 742) 10 2 12
17 Barry McMahon (Alfa Romeo 156/Alfa Romeo Giulietta) 10 2 12
18 Harry Senior (Caterham 7 SigMax) 9 3 12
19 Jon Woolfitt (Spire GTR) 9 3 12
20 David Drinkwater (BMW Compact) 0 12 12
21 Sam Neary (Mercedes-AMG GT3) 11 0 11
22 Steven Dailly (BMW E36 Compact 318Ti/Ginetta G40 GT5) 11 0 11
23 Shane Murphy (SEAT Leon/Ford Fiesta) 11 0 11
24 Gary Prebble (Honda Civic EG/SEAT Leon Cupra 20v T) 8 3 11
25 Dave Griffin (BMW M3 E36) 6 5 11
26 John Davison (Lotus Elan S1/Lotus Elan 26R/Lotus Elite) 4 7 11
27 Michael Winkworth (Mini Se7en S) 0 11 11
28 Richard Neary (Mercedes-AMG GT3) 10 0 10
29 Sam Smith (Mazda MX-5 Mk3/Mazda MX-5 Mk1) 10 0 10
30 Adam Shepherd (Honda Civic Type R) 10 0 10
31 Brad Sheehan (BMW E46 M3) 10 0 10
32 Oliver White (Medina Sport JL17K) 10 0 10
33 Jim Larkham (Radical PR06) 10 0 10
34 James Harridge (Maverick Vee) 5 5 10
35 Joshua Jackson (McLaren 570S GT4) 0 10 10
36 Marc Warren (Ginetta G40 Cup) 0 10 10
37 Niall Bradley (BMW E46 M3) 9 0 9
38 Sam Kirkpatrick (MG ZR 190/MGB) 9 0 9
39 Max Esterson (Ray GR18) 9 0 9
40 Steve McDermid (MG ZR 170) 9 0 9
41 Dave Cockell (Ford Escort Cosworth) 9 0 9
42 Paul Brydon (BMW M3 Solution F) 9 0 9
43 Alex Walker (Spectrum 011) 9 0 9
44 Jamie Blake (Mini Cooper R53) 9 0 9
45 James Cottingham (Jaguar E-type/Shelby Cobra/Lister-Jaguar Costin/Tojeiro-Jaguar/Ford GT40) 8 1 9
46 Aaron Cooke (Toyota MR2 Roadster) 8 1 9
47 Andrew Jordan (Mini Miglia/Morris Mini Cooper S/Studebaker Lark Daytona 500/Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe/Austin GT40) 7 2 9
48 Ben Pearson (BMW E46 330Ci) 0 9 9
49 Nic Carlton-Smith (Kieft FJ) 0 9 9
50 Leon Morrell (Radical SR3) 0 9 9

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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