Castrol Edge Ranking
Hot or Not- Kenseth Breaks into top 25
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The weekend saw a host of single seater racing, with Formula One's visit to Valencia for the European Grand Prix the standout highlight n off track at least.
F1's return to Europe was accompanied by GP2 and GP3, where there was good news for Romain Grosjean (50) and Mitchell Evans (336) as strong results propelled them clear into respective championship leads.
Crossing over the Atlantic, Marco Andretti (45) claimed his second IndyCar victory under the lights at Iowa, almost five years after his maiden series win. NASCAR was at Sears Point meanwhile, and Kurt Busch (26) claimed his first win of the season with a dominant performance which lifted him two places in the Rankings.
To round off the weekend's racing, Belgium played host to two championships as the IRC visited Ypres and Formula 2 travelled to Spa-Francorchamps. Freddy Loix (87) was not to be denied in his home rally, while Mirko Bortolotti (186) moved into the F2 points lead, sharing the wins with Will Bratt (207).
UP THIS WEEK
Matt Kenseth (22)
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Roush Fenway Ford's Matt Kenseth took a big leap in the Castrol EDGE Rankings following Sears Point. Kenseth has actually had stronger drives this season as he finished 14th on the road, but crucially under the rollover system he dropped a 30th place finish from the same race last year. The result was an increase of four places, pushing Kenseth to an all-time high n his first ever foray inside the top 25.
Romain Grosjean (50)
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Grosjean took an opportunistic win in the GP2 feature race in Valencia, winning from third on the grid without having to pass a car as retirements befell the lead pair. The victory moved him clear in the overall GP2 standings, and also propelled him eight places up the Rankings to 50th n his highest ever spot.
Takuma Sato (85)
Takuma Sato's maiden IndyCar pole at Iowa was richly deserved and equally richly rewarded in the Castrol EDGE Rankings, as the KV Racing Technology man leapt up 15 places to an all time high of 85th. At the start of the year Sato was barely inside the Rankings top 200, but he has been rapidly working his way up and this week breaks into the top 100 for the first time.
Freddy Loix (87)
There's no place like home, and the sentiment was certainly true for Freddy Loix this weekend as he dominated on home soil at Ypres. Loix not only captured the points lead in Belgium, he also broke into the Rankings top 100 for the first time as he leapt up 19 places to 87th.
Mirko Bortolotti (187)
If you're looking to prove your racing credentials, winning at Spa-Francorchamps is a fairly good start. Bortolotti was excellent as Formula 2 visited the legendary track, and was fast in both wet and dry as Spa's notoriously changeable weather bit. A win and a second propelled him 63 places up the Rankings to 187, as well as moving him back into the championship lead.
DOWN THIS WEEK
Tony Stewart (27)
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Relations between Stewart and Red Bull's Brian Vickers will be decidedly frosty following Sears Point, after Vickers' intentional retaliation tipped Stewart into a spin and early retirement. The contact also cost Stewart in the Rankings, as he slid five places and out of the top 25 n the lowest he has been for more than a year.
Graham Rahal (56)
An ill-timed caution in the closing stages of IndyCar's ninth round at Iowa hurt Graham Rahal, the Ganassi driver losing almost a lap on the leaders and dropping to 15th at the finish. After finishing ninth in the same race last year, the drop in points sent Rahal tumbling five places in the Rankings, with Danica Patrick replacing him in the IndyCar top ten.
Pastor Maldonado (94)
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18th on the road equalled Pastor Maldonado's worst finish to a Grand Prix this season, and the Venezuelan was always in danger of falling down the Rankings as a result. The bad news was compounded however as he was defending a pole position and race win from GP2 Valencia last year n and the loss of points subsequently dropped him 15 places to 94th - his lowest spot for 11 months.
Marcus Ericsson (134)
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There wasn't much Marcus Ericsson could do about the first GP2 race, after Jules Bianchi chopped in front of him and sent both off at high speed into the wall. The Swede therefore started race toward the back of the field, and while he was able to work his way up to 10th the damage had been done. He drops his win at the circuit from last year under the rollover system, sliding 17 places to 134th as a result.
Jan Kopecky (161)
Kopecky went into the weekend's IRC rally in Ypres just three points off the overall points lead, but left with a deficit of 15 points and a drop of 43 places in the Rankings after a crash during the shakedown forced him to withdraw. 161st represents the Czech Republic driver's lowest rankings in almost two years.
The Castrol EDGE Rankings is based on drivers' measurable performance over the last 12 months, including everything from their grid position to fastest laps. For further information on how the Castrol Rankings scores are calculated, click here.
