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Autosport
Autosport
National
Marcus Simmons

Short jumps 20 places in Autosport National Driver Rankings

The Mazda MX-5 ace had plenty to celebrate as, in addition to it being his birthday over the weekend, he also picked up another hat-trick of wins in the MX-5 Cup category - for Mk1 models of the sportscar - at Brands Hatch.

Short was once again in imperious form, and his latest successes have propelled him 20 places up the leaderboard and into fourth spot.

He has now joined a small gaggle of drivers on nine wins, all of whom are four behind long-time table-topper Lucky Khera.

Joining Short on nine wins is David Drinkwater, the BMW Compact driver also unbeaten at Brands as he took both Hot Hatch Class C victories.

Drinkwater has therefore gained 15 positions on the winners' table and is now in sixth.

However, this pair were the only drivers to improve their ranking inside the top 20 and you have to go all the way down to 23rd to find the next driver to have risen last weekend.

Jamie Boot on his way to success at Donington Park (Photo by: Mick Walker)

The driver in question is TVR Griffith pilot Jamie Boot, who added two more wins to his tally at Donington Park.

Boot wrong-footed his opposition to take the glory in the fastest final of Equipe Classic Racing's unique Super Sprint contest, having also triumphed in one of the earlier heats, to jump up from outside the top 50.

Boot's closest rival in the final was Mark Holme and the Austin-Healey racer made a similar climb up the leaderboard to take 34th spot, having also won two of the heats.

Earlier in the Donington weekend, James Wheeler narrowly claimed a BCV8 double to return to the table in 28th place.

Other drivers to join the leaderboard include Brands Hatch Toyota MR2 winners Shaun Traynor (overall) and Alastair Topley (Mk2 class). Traynor now occupies 32nd, with Topley four spots further back.

Autosport's most successful national racers so far in 2022

Pos Driver (Car) Overall wins Class wins Total
1 Lucky Khera (Ferrari 488 Challenge/BMW E46/Lamborghini Huracan GT3/McLaren 720S GT3) 7 6 13
2 Will Gibson (34 Ford Coupe) 9 0 9
3 Miles Rudman (34 Ford Coupe) 9 0 9
4 Ben Short (Mazda MX-5 Mk1) 9 0 9
5 Michelle Hayward (Mallock U2 Mk23) 0 9 9
6 David Drinkwater (BMW Compact) 0 9 9
7 Fraser Fenwick (Mazda MX-5 Mk1) 8 0 8
8 Stewart Black (Ford Coupe) 8 0 8
9 Peter Baxter (SEAT Leon) 6 2 8
10 Jasver Sapra (BMW E46 M3) 7 0 7
11 Nelson King (Mini Cooper) 7 0 7
12 Joshua Law (MCR S2) 7 0 7
13 Dave Cockell (Ford Escort Cosworth) 7 0 7
14 Richard Webb (Spire RGBR) 7 0 7
15 Alex Dunne (Tatuus T-421) 7 0 7
16 Liam McGill (Ford Focus 2.0 TDCI Zetec S/Ford Fiesta ST) 7 0 7
17 Steven Larkham (Radical PR6) 7 0 7
18 David McCullough (Van Diemen RF00) 7 0 7
19 Benn Simms (Reynard SF77/Caravelle Mk2) 6 1 7
20 Dave Griffin (BMW E36 M3) 5 2 7
21 Jamie Winrow (Caterham 7 Sigma 135) 4 3 7
22 Mike Williamson (Mitsubishi Evo 4) 2 5 7
23 Jamie Boot (TVR Griffith) 6 0 6
24 Harry Hickton (Citroen Saxo VTR) 6 0 6
25 Steve McDermid (MG ZR 170) 6 0 6
26 Wayne Marrs (Ferrari F355 Challenge/Mercedes-AMG GT3) 6 0 6
27 Samuel Harrison (Chevron B15/Merlyn Mk20) 6 0 6
28 James Wheeler (MGB GTV8) 6 0 6
29 Michael Cullen (Lotus Cortina/Stryker/Ford Fiesta ST) 6 0 6
30 Peter Barrable (Legends Ford Coupe) 6 0 6
31 Richard Kearney (Formula Sheane) 6 0 6
32 Shaun Traynor (Toyota MR2 Roadster) 5 1 6
33 Derek Graham (Ford Fiesta Zetec) 4 2 6
34 Mark Holme (Austin-Healey 3000 Mk2/MGB Roadster) 3 3 6
35 Craig Land (Locost 7) 3 3 6
36 Alastair Topley (Toyota MR2 Mk2/Elva Courier) 1 5 6
37 Michael Winkworth (Mini Se7en S) 0 6 6
38 Lee Piercey (BMW E36) 0 6 6
39 David Russell (BMW E36 3 Series) 0 6 6
40 Zac Blackwell (Mini Cooper S R56) 0 6 6
41 Paul Jarvis (Citroen Saxo VTS) 0 6 6
42 Philip Wright (Honda Civic Type R) 5 0 5
43 Harry Senior (Caterham 7 Sigma 150) 5 0 5
44/td> Christian Douglas (TVR Griffith 400/Ariel Atom) 5 0 5
45 Marc Warren (Ginetta G56 GTA) 5 0 5
46 Bryan Bransom (BMW E46 M3) 5 0 5
47 Ollie Neaves (MGB GTV8) 5 0 5
48 John Mickel (34 Ford Coupe) 5 0 5
49 Niall Bradley (BMW E46 M3) 5 0 5
50 Mikey Doble (BMW E36 Compact 318Ti) 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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