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Rudman closes to within a win of Autosport National Driver Rankings leader Jackson

Miles Rudman has closed to within just one win of Autosport National Driver Rankings leader Cam Jackson after his latest Legends triumph last weekend.

Rudman - Legends  - Pemb 10.10.21 (4)

The 2019 Legends champion won the fourth race at Pembrey to take his 2021 tally to 16, one shy of long-standing table-topper, Historic Formula Ford ace Jackson.

With six races for the Legends battlers in Wales, Rudman missed out on the chance of claiming top spot - thanks in part to the strong form of five-time series champion John Mickel. He claimed a quartet of wins to shoot from outside of the top 50 to 17th place on the leaderboard as he took his total to 11.

While Rudman's triumph did not gain him a place, as he was already second on the winners' table, there was one change in the top 10, courtesy of veteran national racer Rod Birley.

The Ford Escort Cosworth pilot took an overall win in the first Classic and Modern Motorsport Club Super Saloon contest at Snetterton and a class triumph in the second Modified Fords race to leap up from 22nd to ninth.

However, Birley could have risen as high as fifth had mechanical problems not struck when he was leading two of the other Norfolk races.

Also on the rise was Junior Saloon Car ace Charlie Hand. He was in flying form at Pembrey, winning all three races to gain 26 places, moving into 16th spot.

Victory for Birley in CMMC Super Saloons at Snetterton propelled him up to ninth

Victory for Birley in CMMC Super Saloons at Snetterton propelled him up to ninth

Photo by: Richard Styles

Further back, the only other change inside the top 30 was James Harridge jumping from 36th to 29th with a Formula Vee class win at Oulton Park. That success ensured back-to-back crowns for the Maverick racer, but he was denied the chance to improve further when red flags and fading light meant the second encounter had to be scrapped.

PLUS: The Formula Vee maverick who has reached the top 

Other drivers to improve included Alex Walker, who missed out on the National Formula Ford 1600 title in controversial circumstances but did take a win in the opener to climb from 43rd to 39th, and Aaron Cooke retained his MR2 crown with a win in the first Oulton race, which improved his ranking by six spots to 41st.

Meanwhile, Mini racer Jamie Blake and Rover 3500 ace John Kinmond were new entries into the top 50 after both achieving double victories at Knockhill.

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) 16 0 16
3 Michael Cullen (Stryker/Ford Fiesta ST/Lotus Cortina) 12 3 15
4 Stefano Leaney (Dallara F317) 14 0 14
5 Alistair Camp (Honda Civic EP3) 12 0 12
6 Ollie Neaves (MGB GTV8) 12 0 12
7 James Little (Ferrari F355 Challenge/Ferrari 458 Challenge) 12 0 12
8 Dan Gore (Jedi Mk6) 11 1 12
9 Rod Birley (Ford Escort Cosworth WRC) 11 1 12
10 Scott Parkin (Volkswagen Golf TDI/Ford Focus 2.0 TDCI Zetec S/Ford Ka) 10 2 12
11 Barry McMahon (Alfa Romeo 156/Alfa Romeo Giulietta) 10 2 12
12 Harry Senior (Caterham 7 SigMax) 9 3 12
13 Ben Short (Mazda MX-5 Mk1) 11 0 11
14 Sam Neary (Mercedes-AMG GT3) 11 0 11
15 Nic Grindrod (Citroen C1) 11 0 11
16 Charlie Hand (Citroen Saxo VTR) 11 0 11
17 John Mickel (Legends 34 Ford Coupe) 11 0 11
18 Jon Woolfitt (Spire GTR) 9 2 11
19 Dave Griffin (BMW M3 E36) 6 5 11
20 Richard Neary (Mercedes-AMG GT3) 10 0 10
21 Sam Smith (Mazda MX-5 Mk3/Mazda MX-5 Mk1) 10 0 10
22 Adam Shepherd (Honda Civic Type R) 10 0 10
23 Oliver White (Medina Sport JL17K) 10 0 10
24 Lewis Thompson (Caterham 310R) 10 0 10
25 Shane Murphy (SEAT Leon) 10 0 10
26 Jim Larkham (Radical PR6) 10 0 10
27 Andy Smith (March 783/March 742) 8 2 10
28 Gary Prebble (Honda Civic EG/SEAT Leon Cupra 20v T) 7 3 10
29 James Harridge (Maverick Vee) 5 5 10
30 John Davison (Lotus Elan S1/Lotus Elan 26R/Lotus Elite) 3 7 10
31 Michael Winkworth (Mini Se7en S) 0 10 10
32 Joshua Jackson (McLaren 570S GT4) 0 10 10
33 Steven Dailly (BMW E36 Compact 318Ti/Ginetta G40 GT5) 9 0 9
34 Brad Sheehan (BMW E46 M3) 9 0 9
35 Sam Kirkpatrick (MG ZR 190/MGB) 9 0 9
36 Steve McDermid (MG ZR 170) 9 0 9
37 Dave Cockell (Ford Escort Cosworth) 9 0 9
38 Paul Brydon (BMW M3 Solution F) 9 0 9
39 Alex Walker (Spectrum 011) 9 0 9
40 Jamie Blake (Mini Cooper R53) 9 0 9
41 Aaron Cooke (Toyota MR2 Roadster) 8 1 9
42 David Drinkwater (BMW Compact) 0 9 9
43 Simon Orange (Ginetta G55 GT4) 0 9 9
44 Josh Steed (Ginetta G40 GT5) 8 0 8
45 Simon Clark (Porsche Cayman S) 8 0 8
46 Niall Bradley (BMW E46 M3) 8 0 8
47 John Kinmond (Rover 3500) 8 0 8
48 Stewart Black (Legends Ford Coupe) 8 0 8
49 Theo Edgerton (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport) 8 0 8
50 Robert Barrable (Legends Ford Coupe) 8 0 8

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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