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| Features |
| eKartingNews.com Driver Rankings - April 27 |
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The new and improved EKN Driver Rankings debuted earlier this month before the national schedule kicked off at the Mazda Race of the Americas in Norman, Oklahoma. With that event now behind us, the standings for all three divisions has now changed with new drivers entering the rankings, some others having their first big event under their belt, and the Stars Tucson results being removed with the 12 month rankings window passing that event (see below for EKN Driver Rankings Calculation Process).
ICC
For ICC Rankings, Click Here
It’s the same name atop the ICC standings as defending national champion Gary Carlton extended his rankings lead, increasing his score by nearly 300 points with the two big wins in Norman. With six total victories - that include three at events with a 10 ranking - and a sixth place at the Stars National Finals 2006, the PCH Motorsports/CRG driver has a 206 point lead over new second place driver, Team Top Kart’s Matt Jaskol. The Las Vegas native moved up two positions in the rankings with a fourth and a third place finishes in Norman while battling with walking pneumonia. Italian Motors’ David Jurca moved up as well with a strong fifth place run in the first Final. Champion Racing/Intrepid’s Jordy Vorrath dropped to fourth after a difficult Norman event while Michael Vincec (Cameron Motorsports) jumped into the top five with a sixth and a fourth.
 | Danilo Dirani
(Photo: morelockphoto.com) |
A good example of how a string of solid regional events can help you move up the standings is Danilo Dirani, our ICC Driver Spotlight. The Brazilian has over 10 years experience in karting along with a stellar CV in the open wheel ranks from the last five years, including Formula 3 and part of the Honda Racing F1 development roster. Last year, Dirani competed in the Champ Car Atlantic series with Condor Motorsports, finishing seventh in the final standings. He has returned to karting with Tony Kart USA, running alongside Jonathan Branam, both beginning the year running the Florida Winter Tour with the duo finishing third and fourth in the final standings. As the season goes along, watch for Dirani to add some podium finishes on the year and move up the rankings.
Driver Spotlight: Danilo Dirani
ICC Ranking: 26th
Point Breakdown
| Race | Rank | Finish | Points| Florida Winter Tour ’07 - Homestead #1 | 8 | 8 | 853 | | Florida Winter Tour ’07 - Homestead #2 | 8 | 6 | 872 | | Florida Winter Tour ’07 - Homestead #3 | 8 | 3 | 897 | | Florida Winter Tour ’07 - Homestead #4 | 8 | 3 | 897 | | Florida Winter Tour ’07 - Ocala #6 | 8 | 3 | 905 | | Stars Race of the Americas 2007 #1 | 10 | 22 | 933 | | Stars Race of the Americas 2007 #2 | 10 | 5 | 1134 | |
Inside the Stats
Average Finish: 7
Average Points: 927.3
Total Points: 6491
ICA
For ICA Rankings, Click Here
As with ICC, the ICA Driver Rankings has the same number one driver with defending national champion Joel Miller still in P1. With two top five finishes in Norman, those results replace lower scores in his five race total, increasing the Tony Kart USA driver’s score to 5405. Behind him, drivers are moving all over with rookies getting their first few races and some of the last year’s top ten begin to slide down the standings as they race elsewhere. PSL Karting’s Jake Rosenzweig moved up to second with a fourth and a runner-up finish. New MRP-Birel America driver Chris Larson dropped to third, improving his score by less then hundred points. Fourth is Margay pilot Eric Morrow, who is spending the year in Formula BMW USA series, thus missing the Race of the Americas and new PSL Karting pilot Anthony Llopiz, who made the switch to the CRG brand just before Norman, rounding out the top five.
 | Federico Montoya
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Our ICA Driver Spotlight focuses actually on two drivers, teammates under the new Indie Race Development team, Federico Montoya and Dominic Scheer. Driving for the new MRP Motorsport-Birel satellite team, they enter into the ICA Top 25 after just eight races, counting their best five. Both drivers have North American and European experience as they both have an Easykart World Finals championship in their pocket (Scheer in ’04 and Montoya in ’06). They began their 2007 season competing in the Florida Winter Tour that saw them collect a handful of top ten finishes against tough competition, with Scheer earning victory at the Ocala round. In Norman, Montoya shined on the big stage, earning a running up finish in the first final and followed it up with a fourth, behind double winner Scott Jenkins Rosenzweig and Miller after starting 14th in both races. Scheer placed eighth in the first final starting from the 19th spot but struggled in the second, finishing 20th.
Driver Spotlight: Federico Montoya
ICA Ranking: 20th
Point Breakdown
| Race | Rank | Finish | Points| Florida Winter Tour ’07 - Homestead #1 | 8 | 6 | 872 | | Florida Winter Tour ’07 - Homestead #3 | 8 | 9 | 850 | | Florida Winter Tour ’07 - Ocala #6 | 8 | 16 | 774 | | Stars Race of the Americas 2007 #1 | 10 | 2 | 1131 | | Stars Race of the Americas 2007 #2 | 10 | 4 | 1108 | |
 | Dominic Scheer
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Inside the Stats
Average Finish: 7
Average Points: 947
Total Points: 4735
Driver Spotlight: Dominic Scheer
ICA Ranking: 21st
Point Breakdown
| Race | Rank | Finish | Points| Florida Winter Tour ’07 - Homestead #2 | 8 | 6 | 872 | | Florida Winter Tour ’07 - Homestead #3 | 8 | 4 | 896 | | Florida Winter Tour ’07 - Ocala #5 | 8 | 1 | 910 | | Stars Race of the Americas 2007 #1 | 10 | 8 | 1062 | | Stars Race of the Americas 2007 #2 | 10 | 20 | 925 | |
Inside the Stats
Average Finish: 7
Average Points: 933
Total Points: 4665
TaG
For TaG Rankings, Click Here
Last rankings update, we introduced the TaG Driver Rankings to highlight those building their skills in the Touch And Go engine category. ArrowUSA driver Brandon Jones debuted as the top TaG driver but it has quickly changed at the top as he will run in the Stars ICA class in ’07. This has allowed Wunder-Bar Racing’s Will Martindale take over the top spot, along with our TaG Driver Spotlight. Jones falls to just second spot and could remain in the top five for quite some time with nine total races under his belt. FirstKart.com’s Zach Beard moves down to third after debuting second. Though he finished sixth in the first final at Norman, he struggled after making contact in the second. Double podium finisher Conor Daly moved up to fourth in his debut weekend with the ArrowUSA team and will be a factor all year long. The third ArrowUSA driver to make the top five is newly signed Edward Fortier. The Florida Winter Tour race winner had two top ten runs at the Race of the Americas in his debut aboard an Arrow machine.
 | Will Martindale
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
With an average finish of third in his top five races, it will take a couple of race wins to knock Martindale off the top of the hill. A runner-up finish at the Stars National Finals at Woodbine wrapped up his 2006 season where he finished ninth in the Spec Racer standings in his first full year of competitive karting. The Wunder-Bar team made the switch in the off season from GP to CRG, and running at the ProKart Challenge events helped build momentum heading into Norman where he and ICC teammate Fritz Leesmann picked up four podium finishes.
Driver Spotlight: Will Martindale
TaG Ranking: 1st
Point Breakdown
| Race | Rank | Finish | Points| Stars National Finals ‘06 | 10 | 2 | 1093 | | ProKart Challenge #4 - CalSpeed | 8 | 4 | 953 | | Stars Race of the Americas 2007 #1 | 10 | 3 | 1099 | | Stars Race of the Americas 2007 #2 | 10 | 2 | 1110 | | ProKart Challenge #5 - Grange | 8 | 2 | 997 | |
Inside the Stats
Average Finish: 3
Average Points: 1050
Total Points: 5252
EKN Driver Rankings Calculation Process
The EKN Driver Rankings are calculated using a driver’s best finishes in major North American races. Assembled using events from the previous 12 months from the current date, we use a driver’s top seven finishes in ICC to determine their overall current point total. The top five as used for ICA due to the lower number of available events. With each new release, results before one year ago at this date are discarded. To deliver this current ranking list, we tabulated the results of all the Snap-on Stars of Karting national events as well as other regional programs. We have also included the results for the major one-off events such as the Rock Island Grand Prix, SKUSA King of the Streets, the SKUSA SuperNationals, the KartSport Grand Prix and the Greeley Grand Prix.
Each race was initially weighted based on the prestige and history of the event or series with a score of 10 being the highest attainable base ranking. For 2007, the Stars of Karting Race of the Americas and National Finals, the SKUSA SuperNationals, Rock Island Grand Prix, as well as the North American Karting Championships and TAG World Finals are the only events to receive a score of 10 in their initial weighting. The Stars of Karting national series events draw a base ranking of 9 while the WKA Manufacturer’s Cup, Florida Winter Tour, and other regional program races were given a base ranking of 8.
Added to these initial rankings are two variables that help confirm the true importance of an event to the ranking process – field size and field strength. A percentage of one weighting point is added for the size of the field while the number of existing top 50 drivers (top 25 for ICA and TaG) entered offers another fraction of a point. The sum of these numbers becomes the overall ranking for any race.
Following a race, drivers receive points based on their finishing positions with 100 points earned for a win. Each subsequent position drops by one point with 99 points given to the second place driver and so on throughout the field. These points are then multiplied by the overall ranking to produce a driver’s final point total from each event. Using a driver’s best seven races for ICC and the best five for ICA and TaG, we calculate each driver’s overall score and subsequent ranking. |
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