Kyle Wick continues leading the EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings (Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca)

The first edition of the 2024 eKartingNews.com Shifterkart Driver Rankings Presented by Skip Barber Racing School have been tabulated now that the first three months of the season are in the books. It has been a busy winter season to kick off the year with the first 16 races added to the moving 12-month standings for the Shifterkart division. The top-10 remained virtually unchanged despite the addition of a new driver into the hunt this year, as 2023 EKN Driver of the Year Kyle Wick begins the season with the score to beat.

The top five drivers remain unchanged as the first four saw little in adjustments in their scores after the first three months of 2024. Wick (GFC Karting) was able to add a victory from the Challenge of the Americas opener in Tucson in February, but he was unable finish the single main event SKUSA WinterNationals in Orlando, leaving new points on the table. Wick’s top-seven results over the last 12 months remain the same, with the SKUSA WinterNationals 2023 still remaining on the standings due to the schedule. The same can be said for Marijn Kremers in his return to the USA for the first time in 2024 at the SKUSA Pro Tour opener. Despite retiring early due to contact, the two-time SKUSA Pro Tour champion remains in second, now racing under the Rolison Performance Group tent on OTK material. His new teammate – Daniel Formal – holds third with an increase in points. The SKUSA SuperNationals 26 winner won twice at the SKUSA Winter Series and earned four runner-up results coming from the final two rounds of the program, the Florida Winter Tour, and losing the lead on the final lap at the WinterNationals.

The top-four is now within 92 points of each other as AJ Myers (Magik Kart USA) also improved his score slightly. He fought vack from issues at the WinterNationals to finish sixth in his 2024 debut. Billy Musgrave (Factory Karts) holds in fifth with the same point total. The four-time SKUSA SuperNationals fought engine issues all weekend at the WinterNationals, placing 15th, a result he did not use in his final calculations.

The first position change for the 2024 EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings is for sixth as Jacob Gulick jumped ahead of GFC Karting teammate Hunter Pickett. Gulick has three top-five results to begin 2024, two at Challenge of the Americas opener and he just missed the podium at the SKUSA Pro Tour inaugural Pro Show. Those results improved his score to move to sixth ahead of Pickett, whose score remained unchanged. A fifth, a DNF, and a seventh over his first three starts at COTA and SKUSA were not good enough to improve his score.

Keawn Tandon (GFC Karting) and Giorgio Carrara (Inter MS / Kart Republic) hold onto the eighth and ninth spots. Tandon had a decrease in points, missing out on the podium in all four Challenge of the Americas starts to open up 2024. Carrara improved his score based on two podium results at the SKUSA Winter Series and fifth at the WinterNationals.

The story in the first quarter of 2024 is Matheus Morgatto (PSL Karting / Birel ART). The 2022 FIA Karting World Champion made his shifterkart debut in the USA at the SKUSA Winter Series. After two runner-up results to Formal at the opening rounds, Morgatto stormed back with two sweeps – earning the series championship. Add in the three wins at the Florida Winter Tour, and his first at the SKUSA Pro Tour WinterNationals in a last lap pass on Formal – and Morgatto jumps to the 10th spot in the first rankings for the 2024 season. The EKN Driver of the Month for February is now among the early contenders in the race to the EKN Driver of the Year in Shifterkart division.

Aside from Morgatto, the other EKN ‘Driver on the Move’ in Shifterkart is Anthony Martella. The Canadian started the season with PSL Karting, placing sixth at the SKUSA Winter Series opener before moving to Rolison Performance Group for the SKUSA Pro Tour WinterNationals. Martella placed 10th in Orlando in his OTK debut and now has eight shifterkart races under his belt as he moves his focus to the USF Juniors championship.

Upcoming Events

Shifterkart #1 – Kyle Wick
Auburn, Washington

(Photo: Cody Schindel – CKN)

The former SKUSA Pro Tour champion remains at the top of the standings to begin 2024, already earning a victory to start the season. The GFC Karting driver beat out two of Europes best in Daniel Vasile and Bas Lammers at the opening event for Challenge of the Americas. Wick was among the top contenders at the SKUSA Pro Tour WinterNationals until a mechanical ended his main event early. While not picking up points over his first three races of 2024, Wick remains one of the driver to beat moving forward this season.

Point Breakdown

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Shifterkart #2 – Marijn Kremers
Gemert, Netherlands

(Photo: TonyKart.com)

It is a year of change for the Dutchman. The 2019 FIA Karting KZ World Champion ended his run with Birel ART and PSL Karting with the runner-up result at the SuperNationals 26. At the start of the 2024 season, he began his tenure as a factory driver at Tony Kart. Just prior to the SKUSA WinterNationals, Kremers locked in with Rolison Performance Group to compete in Orlando. While in contention all weekend, contact early ended his run and chance at a podium result. Future races in the USA is unknown for Kremers, though schedules work for him to return to SKUSA Pro Tour.

Point Breakdown

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Shifterkart #3 – Daniel Formal
Boca Raton, Florida

(Photo: On Track Promotions – otp.ca)

The now four-time SKUSA SuperNationals winner came out of the gates for 2024 with two victories at the SKUSA Winter Series. It was a heartbreaking loss on the final lap of the SKUSA WinterNationals in Orlando, however, the runner-up improved his score in the EKN Driver Rankings. Despite dropping a USPKS win from Orlando last year, adding the WinterNats result helped to bring him closer to the top-two in the standings. Dependent on his car schedule, Formal will still have options to improve his score throughout 2024. Martella’s performance have advanced him 39 positions to 20th in the rankings.

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 Shifterkart Driver Rankings Presented by Skip Barber Racing School – as of March 29, 2024

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