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MX-5 racers on the rise in Autosport National Driver Rankings

Mazda MX-5 racers were on the rise in Autosport's National Driver Rankings with three of the sportscar's drivers leaping up the leaderboard after last weekend's action.

cp short 2

Highest of the MX-5 battlers is Ben Short, who scooped another double victory in the 750 Motor Club's Mk1 MX-5 Cup category at Cadwell Park to rise up from 22nd place to sixth on the winners' table.

Jack Brewer also claimed a brace of wins in the British Racing and Sports Car Club's Mk1 championship at Snetterton to gain 23 places and move to 17th.

That is one spot higher than BRSCC MX-5 Supercup (which features the newer Mk3 model) ace Sam Smith, who also took two wins in Norfolk to take his 2021 tally to seven.

However, contact with rival Jack Harding in the opener resulted in a 10-place grid penalty for the second contest and Smith stormed through to finish runner-up and therefore just miss out on a hat-trick of triumphs.

Up at the top of the rankings, Cam Jackson extended his significant lead even further by registering a 17th win of the season at the Silverstone Classic when he was victorious in the second Formula Junior race in his Brabham BT2.

 

That means he now enjoys an eight-win lead over the chasing pack as we approach the mid-point of the year.

Also on the rise was Alfa Romeo ace Barry McMahon. He has been dominant in the 750MC's one-make Alfa series this year but added a class triumph in the Britcar Trophy at Brands Hatch last weekend - an event overshadowed by the death of marshal Rob Foote - to move up from 10th to fourth.

Elsewhere, there was a whole host of other drivers to move up the leaderboard this week, including last year's table-topper Gary Prebble.

He took a win in his Honda Civic in the Pre-93 and Pre-03 Touring Car race at Brands to move into 13th spot, one place higher than John Davison - a Pre-63 GT class winner in a Lotus Elite at the Classic.

Completing the movers inside the top 25 were two more drivers to enjoy glory at the Classic: Andy Smith (Historic Formula 2) and Marcus Jewell (Historic Touring Car class victor).

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 Alistair Camp (Honda Civic EP3) 9 0 9
3 Nic Grindrod (Citroen C1) 9 0 9
4 Barry McMahon (Alfa Romeo 156/Alfa Romeo Giulietta) 8 1 9
5 Dave Griffin (BMW M3 E36) 4 5 9
6 Ben Short (Mazda MX-5 Mk1) 8 0 8
7 Richard Neary (Mercedes-AMG GT3) 8 0 8
8 Sam Neary (Mercedes-AMG GT3) 8 0 8
9 Scott Parkin (Volkswagen Golf/Ford Focus 2.0 TDCI Zetec S/Ford Ka) 8 0 8
10 Brad Sheehan (BMW E46 M3) 8 0 8
11 Ollie Neaves (MGB GTV8) 8 0 8
12 Rod Birley (Ford Escort Cosworth WRC) 8 0 8
13 Jon Woolfitt (Spire GTR) 7 1 8
14 Gary Prebble (Honda Civic EG/SEAT Leon Cupra 20v T) 5 3 8
15 John Davison (Lotus Elan S1/Lotus Elan 26R/Lotus Elite) 2 6 8
16 Michael Winkworth (Mini Se7en S) 0 8 8
17 Jack Brewer (Mazda MX-5 Mk1) 7 0 7
18 Sam Smith (Mazda MX-5 Mk3/Mazda MX-5 Mk1) 7 0 7
19 Oliver White (Medina Sport JL17K) 7 0 7
20 Andy Smith (March 783/March 742) 7 0 7
21 Sam Kirkpatrick (MG ZR 190) 7 0 7
22 James Little (Ferrari F355 Challenge/Ferrari 458 Challenge) 7 0 7
23 Stefano Leaney (Dallara F317) 7 0 7
24 Marcus Jewell (Lotus Cortina/Ford Capri) 1 6 7
25 Marc Warren (Ginetta G40 Cup) 0 7 7
26 Calum Lockie (March 717/Shelby Daytona Cobra/Jaguar E-type/Delahaye 135MS/Ford Falcon) 6 0 6
27 Harry Senior (Caterham 7 SigMax) 6 0 6
28 Josh Steed (Ginetta G40 GT5) 6 0 6
29 Steven Dailly (BMW E36 Compact 318Ti) 6 0 6
30 Dan Gore (Jedi Mk6) 6 0 6
31 Lewis Thompson (Caterham 310R) 6 0 6
32 Steve McDermid (MG ZR 170) 6 0 6
33 Pete Sparrow (Citroen 2CV) 6 0 6
34 Dave Cockell (Ford Escort Cosworth) 6 0 6
35 Ron Cumming (Nemesis Kit Car) 6 0 6
36 Matt Bell (Radical SR3) 6 0 6
37 Theo Edgerton (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport) 6 0 6
38 Jim Larkham (Radical PR06) 6 0 6
39 Edd Giddings (BMW Z4) 4 2 6
40 James Harridge (Maverick Vee) 3 3 6
41 Matt Holben (TVR Tuscan) 3 3 6
42 Ben Stiles (Van Diemen RF82) 0 6 6
43 James Keepin (MG ZR 160) 0 6 6
44 Simon Orange (Ginetta G55) 0 6 6
45 Simon Clark (Porsche Cayman S) 5 0 5
46 Miles Rudman (Legends 34 Ford Coupe) 5 0 5
47 Adam Shepherd (Honda Civic Type R) 5 0 5
48 Callum Voisin (Ginetta G40 Junior) 5 0 5
49 Jamie Boot (TVR Griffith) 5 0 5
50 Benn Simms (Reynard SF77/Chevron B17) 5 0 5

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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