Ryan Norberg opens 2024 improving his score to the EKN TaG Driver Rankings (Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca)

The first quarter of the 2024 season is in the books, and the first events have been tabulated into the eKartingNews.com TaG Driver Rankings Presented by Skip Barber Racing School. The first edition of the standings in this new season brought 15 main events held over the last three months into the calculation for the best seven point totals for each of the 273 drivers over the past 12-month period. A majority of the top-10 changed, however, the positions first through third remain the same.

The 2023 Driver of the Year Ryan Norberg (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) improved his score from the end of last year, thanks to a win at the SKUSA Winter Series opener and a successful intro of the SKUSA Pro Tour Pro Show with a win at his home track in Orlando. Despite losing points while he was on the mend from an incident last season, British driver Joe Turney (Chad Dokken Racing / Kart Republic) remains in the second spot thanks to his top performances in 2023. With no specific timetable for his return to the USA, expect him to fall outside the top-10 in our next rankings. Florida driver Alessandro de Tullio (Inter MS / Kart Republic) used home track advantage in Homestead to improve his point total, yet he remains in the third spot to start 2024.

Moving up to fourth is British driver Harley Keeble (Sodi Racing USA by Piquet). A string of top-five results over the first three months, including two wins at the Florida Winter Tour, helped Harley improve his score as he is now only four points out of the third spot. Keelbe advanced ahead of Matheus Morgatto (PSL Karting / Birel ART) in the process. The 2022 FIA Karting World Champion has transitioned to the shifterkart category in America for 2024, and is now the only driver to currently hold a top-10 position in both standings after a string of six straight wins to open up 2024. As the season goes on, he will continue to lose events from the TaG standings and will drop outside of the top-10.

The second half of the top-10 begins with Morgatto’s fellow Brazilian Diego Ramos (PSL Karting / Birel ART). Ramos improved his score over the first quarter of 2024, which included a victory at the Rotax Winter Trophy along with podiums at SKUSA Winter Series, WinterNationals, and Florida Winter Tour finale. He jumped ahead of Austin Garrison (Speed Concepts Racing / Redspeed), who drops to seventh. The Florida driver also claimed a win at the Rotax Winter Trophy, but dropped his points from last year’s SKUSA Winter Series due to the sliding 12-month window of calculations.

Last year’s top Senior rookie in the standings was Brandon Carr. Joining Trinity Karting Group aboard the Kart Republic, Carr gained his first win for the partnership at the SKUSA Winter Series finale, and he also placed sixth at the SKUSA WinterNationals to improve his score by nearly 100 points. Moving back into the top-10 after time away is Hayden Jones (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic). Jones went without a race since SuperNationals 26, making his first start of 2024 at the SKUSA WinterNationals. The Virginia Tech student placed as the runner-up in the SKUSA Pro Show debut in Orlando. Behind them is Senior sophomore Ayden Ingratta (Premier Karting / Tony Kart), who also gained a victory at the Rotax Winter Trophy. Despite the victory, the Canadian lost results from last year which dropped his total below the 7000-point mark. Ingratta could fall more as he is scheduled for USF Pro Championships competition in 2024.

The ‘EKN On the Move’ driver is Nicholas Terlecki (Hotz Driver Development / OTK). Moving from KA to X30 toward the end of the 2023 season, the Illinois driver now has nine events under his belt coming off a top-10 at the SuperNationals in November. He responded with a P9 at the WinterNationals, moving him up to 18th. Watch for top Senior rookie candidate in 2024, Steven Miller (Nash Motorsportz / EOS), as he makes his debut in 22nd with eight races already this season.

Upcoming Events

TaG #1 – Ryan Norberg
Orlando, Florida

(Photo: EKN – Nate Dean)

The answer has been given…Ryan Norberg is not going away. After a winless season in 2023, the Rolison Performance Group driver picked up the first victory of the season at the SKUSA Winter Series. The remaining three events were battles and came out missing in the championship chase. The SKUSA Pro Tour WinterNationals heading back to Orlando, he was the odds on favorite for the inaugural SKUSA Pro Show event. Despite the battles, Norberg survived and earned his first SKUSA Pro Tour victory since the SummerNationals in 2022. The first win of the year improved his score as he remains the target in the EKN Driver Rankings.

Point Breakdown

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TaG #2 – Joe Turney
Milton Keynes, England

(Photo: EKN)

A phenomenal 2023 season keeps the British driver Turney in the top-three of the EKN Driver Rankings. A possible Driver of the Year was taken away following his incident at the FIA Karting World Championship event, making him inactive for the SKUSA SuperNationals. With his 2024 USA schedule unknown at this time as he just now is getting back behind the wheel, his position in the standings could fall as results begin to remove. Among the first were his championship season results from the 2023 SKUSA Winter Series. That resulted in his point total dropping, but the Kart Republic driver remains in the top-three.

Point Breakdown

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TaG #3 – Alessandro de Tullio
Miami, Florida

(Photo: Trevor Blue – KC)

One of the more consistent drivers throughout the 2023 season was de Tullio. He went all year without getting a major victory, however, changed that to start the new year with a triumph at the SKUSA Winter Series. His championship run over the four events has established him as one of the early contenders for Driver of the Year in 2024. He was among those challengers at the SKUSA WinterNationals until contact on the opening circuit along with a mechanical issue later on took him out of contention. Now that the schedule has moved events outside of Florida, we will see if de Tullio can add to that win total in 2024.

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.

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