Ryan Norberg finished at the top of the EKN Driver Rankings for a seventh time (Photo: EKN)

The 2023 eKartingNews.com TaG Driver Rankings presented by Skip Barber Racing School has ended with the final events of the calendar year completed. A total of 46 events over the last 12 months featured 224 drivers recording results in events here within the United States. While it was not the tightest race in Driver Rankings history, this year ranks among the most competitive that went down to the wire with Ryan Norberg earning the TaG Driver of the Year for a record seventh time in eight years.

Heading into the final events of 2023, Norberg (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) sat second in the standings to British driver and SKUSA Pro Tour champion Joe Turney (Chad Dokken Racing / Kart Republic). Unfortunately, Turney suffered a leg injury in an incident at the FIA Karting World Championship in October and was unable to attend the SuperNationals. Norberg put together a rebound performance in Las Vegas, gaining 16 spots at the SKUSA SuperNationals for a runner-up finish. That result jumped him into the number one spot to close out the EKN Driver Rankings. Just 30 points separated the total set by Turney and what Norberg ended up with to close out the chase for the top spot. The results produced by Turney in the 2023 season should not be ignored, with six wins included in his best seven. He and Norberg set the tone of the season and stood out as the best on the year.

Alessandro de Tullio (Inter MS / Kart Republic) was the best of the rest, ending the 2023 standings in the third spot. Among the few drivers to post 20 or more races on the year, the Florida drivers finished inside the top-10 in 18 of them. That type of consistency helped over the EKN Driver Rankings, finishing the SKUSA Pro Tour championship in fourth and USPKS standings in sixth. Holding onto fourth place thanks to his ROK Vegas victory was Matheus Morgatto (PSL Karting / Birel ART). The season started out strong for the 2022 FIA Karting World Champion, sweeping the Florida Winter Tour and earning his first SKUSA Pro Tour victory at the WinterNationals. It wasn’t until the SummerNationals the Brazilian returned to the podium in the USA while contesting the European schedule at the same time. Morgatto is locked in for 2024 with Birel ART factory team once again, competing in KZ and OK competition.

Rounding out the top-five is British driver Harley Keeble (Sodi Racing USA) who made a big impression in his first full season in the USA. A runner-up in his debut at the SKUSA WinterNationals set the tone, as he went on to gather three more podiums, including a victory at USPKS before ending up fifth in his SKUSA SuperNationals debut. That was in addition to the multiple victories he gained in 100cc competition here in the USA. Keeble moved up one spot, as did Florida driver Austin Garrison (Speed Concepts Racing / Redspeed) into sixth. Three podiums including a victory at the SKUSA Winter Series preceded his three podium results at USPKS before finishing recording an X30 Senior career-best finish of third at the SKUSA SuperNationals.

Dropping two spots at the end of the 2023 season was Diego Ramos (PSL Karting / Birel ART). It was an up-and-down season as the Brazilian, as Ramos was a contender in both SKUSA and USPKS championships until the finale weekends. His best point total of the year was a third-place result at the SKUSA Pro Tour WinterNationals. The season ended at the top of the podium for Donovan Bonilla (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) with a SKUSA SuperNationals 26 victory. It was a breakthrough performance in Las Vegas as his only other podium on the year was a win at the SKUSA Winter Series. He spent much of the summer back home in Mexico, thus only recording 12 races on the EKN Driver Rankings schedule.

The third British driver in the top-10 is Brandon Carr (Ryan Perry Motorsport / Tony Kart), the top rookie for 2023. Carr was able to put together a string of top-five results early in the season at USPKS and SKUSA before struggling into the second half of the season. His best result was runner-up at USPKS in Texas while the highest point result was fifth at the SKUSA WinterNationals. Completing the 2023 top-10 is fellow Senior rookie Ayden Ingratta (Speed Concepts Racing / Redspeed). An illness put the Canadian on the sidelines for a handful of events, but Ingratta still produced solid results over the 12-month period. His highest point score was a fourth-place finish at the SKUSA WinterNationals while the runner-up result at the ROK Vegas event was his best finish. Ingratta will be moving to cars for the 2024 season so his karting schedule for next year is unknown.

Looking at the top-10 drivers, a total of five countries are represented with the 10 drivers – 3 that are from the USA, 3 from the UK, 2 Brazilians, 1 Canadian and 1 driver from Mexico. The only driver to drop out of the top-10 was Blake Nash (Nash Motorsportz / EOS). His point total did not change from October, as he recorded results of 10th and 19th at the ROK Vegas and SKUSA SuperNationals 26 events to close out 2023.

TaG #1 – Ryan Norberg
Orlando, Florida

(Photo: EKN – Nate Dean)

In addition to his Rolison Performance Group teammate Danny Formal who won his fourth SuperNationals, Norberg continues to cement himself as one of the most decorated karters of all-time in the USA. This is the seventh time Norberg has claimed the EKN Driver of the Year honor, thanks to his consistency throughout the 2023 season. It was a season that saw the Florida driver go winless, but racked up podium and podium, finishing second in the SKUSA Pro Tour standings and winning a third-straight USPKS title. He now is one short of Brandon Jarsocrak’s record setting four-in-a-row championships, which will be on the mind for Norberg in 2024. He lost the one victory he held onto – ROK Vegas – and replaced it with his runner-up at the SuperNationals to claim the 2023 EKN TaG Driver of the Year.

Point Breakdown

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TaG #2 – Joe Turney
Milton Keynes, England

(Photo: EKN)

It was an amazing debut in the USA for British driver and Kart Republic factory team member Joe Turney. The year began with a SKUSA Winter Series championship off two wins in the four rounds. It was followed up by four wins over six rounds at the SKUSA Pro Tour to claim his first championship at the top level in the USA. Turney had seven total wins on the 2023 season that spanned over 14 main events, including victory at his USPKS debut in Texas. We at EKN and the entire karting community wish Joe a speedy recovery after his incident at the FIA Karting World Championship event in October, and look forward to seeing him return to the USA in 2024.

Point Breakdown

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TaG #3 – Alessandro de Tullio
Miami, Florida

(Photo: Trevor Blue – KC)

One of the more consistent seasons of the 2023 season came from de Tullio. It began with MottazSport on a Parolin before moving to Prime Powerteam aboard the Birel ART brand for a short stint. It was in June that the Florida driver joined Inter MS aboard the Kart Republic. It is amazing that with three different teams on three different chassis, Alessandro was able to pull off 18 top-10 results in 20 EKN TaG Driver Rankings. He was one of a few to lose points from the last version of the standings, as he replaced a sixth place result at last year’s SuperNationals with seventh at SuperNats 26. He did land on top of the podium to close out the season, earning two wins at the Sunshine State Karting Challenge finale in December.

Point Breakdown

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 best seven finishes in the TaG and Shifterkart categories to determine their overall current point total. With each new release, results posted from more than one year ago are discarded. To deliver our ranking list, we tabulate the results of all the national programs and selected regional programs. We have also included the results for the major one-off events such as the SKUSA SuperNationals, the Rock Island Grand Prix, and other special races.

Each race is initially weighted based on the prestige and history of the event or series with a score of ten (10) being the highest attainable base ranking. For 2023, the SKUSA SuperNationals will receive a score of 10 in its initial weighting in the TaG and Shifterkart categories. A base ranking of 9.5 is set for the SKUSA Pro Tour, while a base ranking of 9 goes to the SKUSA Winter Series, United States Pro Kart Series, Florida Winter Tour, Challenge of the Americas, ROK Vegas, Rotax Grand Nationals, Rock Island Grand Prix, and California ProKart Challenge. Other national and regional program races were given a base ranking of either 8.5 or 8.0.

The EKN staff reserves the right to adjust the rankings of each event throughout the year. A minimum entry total for any event to be considered for the Driver Rankings program is five (5). If an event does not have at least five (5) drivers starting the race, those results will not be tabulated toward the Driver Rankings.

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 entered offers another full point or 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, we calculate each driver’s overall score and subsequent ranking.

EKN TaG Driver Rankings presented by Skip Barber Racing School – as of December 20, 2023

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