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FIVE-STAR JOHNSON IS CASTROL DRIVER RANKINGS TOP NASCAR PERFORMER
JOHNSON RE-WRITES HISTORY BOOKS BY SECURING FIFTH STRAIGHT SPRINT CUP TITLE
23rd November 2010: Jimmie Johnson (8th) made history yet again last weekend as he clinched a record fifth straight Sprint Cup title at Homestead and assured himself of finishing the year as NASCAR?s top driver in the Castrol Driver Rankings.
Johnson recovered from some slow pitstops to finish second in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, which was enough to make sure that he beat rivals Denny Hamlin (12th) and Kevin Harvick (10th) to the championship, in order to cement his eighth place in the Castrol Driver Rankings.
Johnson?s result makes him the USA?s top driver of 2010 while Harvick hung onto his 10th spot in the Castrol Driver Rankings after finishing third at Homestead. Hamlin, who was never a factor after qualifying poorly, dropped to 12th behind Ferrari Formula 1 driver Felipe Massa (11th).
Carl Edwards (13th) made it back-to-back wins and secured a four-place rise to 13th as he passed Robert Kubica (15th), Kyle Busch (14th), Helio Castroneves (16th) and Nico Rosberg (17th). Aric Almirola (393rd) had an even bigger rise, taking a career-best fourth place and making up 69 spots as RPM?s gamble of giving him Kasey Kahne?s (39th) old seat paid off.
Edoardo Mortara (75th) re-wrote history by becoming the first man to win the Macau F3 Grand Prix in successive years and cemented his status as the category?s highest-ranked driver by retaining his 75th place. The Euro Series champion is now only one spot ahead of British title winner Jean-Eric Vergne (76th), who finished seventh on his Macau debut.
New World Touring Car champion Yvan Muller (72nd) did not win either race at the Macau season finale, the victories instead going to his Chevrolet team-mate Rob Huff (77th) and to Zengo-Dension SEAT driver Norbert Michelisz (169th). The latter became the first Hungarian to win an FIA World Championship race and moved up 54 places.
BMW drivers Andy Priaulx (86th) and Augusto Farfus (97th) both had poor weekends compared to 2009 and lost four and ten places respectively as a result. The Brazilian?s drop was the largest in the Castrol Driver Rankings top 100.
Paul Dumbrell (249th) ended a ten year wait for his first V8 Supercar victory at Sandown and the Rod Nash Ford driver then added his maiden pole position the following day to cap a 45-place rise. Championship leader James Courtney (111th) won the second race to gain nine places while fellow title contender Craig Lowndes (165th) had a dismal weekend and dropped 12 spots.
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6th December 2010
VETTEL CROWNED CHAMPION OF CASTROL DRIVER
RANKINGS
With the 2010 motorsport season having reached its conclusion, Sebastian Vettel has been officially
crowned champion of the Castrol Driver Rankings. At the top of the table Vettel has fought off
challenges from Sebastien Loeb as well as the other title contenders in the Formula 1 championship.
Australia topped the Castrol Nations? Driver Rankings and, throughout the year, there have been some
fantastic performances from drivers around the world.
HOW THEY FINISHED - END OF SEASON 2010 CASTROL DRIVER RANKINGS - TOP 20
Source: www.castroldriverrankings.com
*Data correct as of December 6, 2010
RANK DRIVER COUNTRY SERIES
CASTROL DRIVER
RANKINGS POINTS
1 SEBASTIAN VETTEL GERMANY F1 24,200
2 MARK WEBBER AUSTRALIA F1 22,079
3 S?BASTIEN LOEB FRANCE WRC 21,754
4 FERNANDO ALONSO SPAIN F1 20,467
5 LEWIS HAMILTON GREAT BRITAIN F1 19,217
6 WILL POWER AUSTRALIA INDYCAR, V8 SUPERCARS 17,858
7 JENSON BUTTON GREAT BRITAIN F1 17,006
8 JIMMIE JOHNSON UNITED STATES SPRINT CUP, GRANDAM 16,308
9 DARIO FRANCHITTI GREAT BRITAIN
INDYCAR, V8 SUPERCARS,
GRANDAM 15,554
10 KEVIN HARVICK UNITED STATES
SPRINT CUP, NATIONWIDE,
NASCAR TRUCKS 15,531
11 FELIPE MASSA BRAZIL F1 14,918
12 DENNY HAMLIN UNITED STATES
SPRINT CUP, NATIONWIDE,
NASCAR TRUCKS 14,467
13 CARL EDWARDS UNITED STATES SPRINT CUP, NATIONWIDE 13,957
14 KYLE BUSCH UNITED STATES
SPRINT CUP, NATIONWIDE,
NASCAR TRUCKS 13,798
15 ROBERT KUBICA POLAND F1 13,642
16 H?LIO CASTRONEVES BRAZIL INDYCAR, V8 SUPERCARS 13,639
17 NICO ROSBERG GERMANY F1 13,505
18 SCOTT DIXON NEW ZEALAND
INDYCAR, V8 SUPERCARS,
GRANDAM 13,361
19 SEBASTIEN OGIER FRANCE WRC, IRC 13,108
20 JARI-MATTI LATVALA FINLAND WRC 12,859
OVERALL
Sebastian Vettel only won the Formula 1 Drivers? Championship by four points, why did he win the
Castrol Driver Rankings by a much greater margin?
The Formula 1 World Championship awards the same points at each race and pays no attention to
whether a driver has dominated a weekend or merely snatched a victory at the death.
The Castrol Driver Rankings is different and Vettel?s 37 weeks at number one are testament to how well
he has performed on many weekends when he did not win, but still proved to be the fastest driver ontrack.
Vettel led the Castrol Driver Rankings for 37 weeks throughout the Formula 1 season yet only led the
championship standings at the end of the final race, why was that?
This was primarily due to Vettel?s qualifying form that netted him twice as many pole positions as anyone
else. The Castrol Driver Rankings rates the performance of a driver over a whole race or rally weekend,
rather than just awarding points based on finishing positions. For example, a driver scores more points if
he starts a race from pole and leads all the way to the chequered flag rather than fighting his way
through the field from a lowly grid position.
Whereas Vettel was matched by Fernando Alonso(4th) for wins and podium finishes, he blew the Ferrari
driver away in terms of qualifying form and laps led. He edged out his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber
as well.
How does Sebastian Vettel?s overall performance compare with Formula 1 drivers from previous years?
If you applied the same method of analysis used in the Castrol Driver Rankings to the two previous
Formula 1 World Champions Vettel?s season-ending score of 24,200 is the highest. It compares
favourably with Jenson Button?s 21,828 from last year and Lewis Hamilton?s 22,660 from 2008.
Sebastien Loeb won eight of the 13 rounds of the WRC season in 2010 to clinch a record-extending
seventh consecutive title. What would it take for a non-F1 driver to win the Castrol Driver Rankings?
Not a lot. Sebastien Loeb finished the year third in the Castrol Driver Rankings, but would have ended up
at number one had Sebastian Vettel failed to finish one of the five grands prix he won and Mark
Webber (2nd) had taken just one less podium finish. If Loeb wins 10 or more rallies next year ? as he did in
2008 ? then it will be difficult for any F1 driver to keep him from the top spot.
CASTROL NATIONS? DRIVER RANKINGS
HOW THEY FINISHED - END OF SEASON 2010 CASTROL NATIONS? DRIVER RANKINGS - TOP 10
RANK COUNTRY
CASTROL DRIVER
RANKINGS POINTS
1 AUSTRALIA 39,937
2 GERMANY 37,705
3 GREAT BRITAIN 36,223
4 FRANCE 34,862
5 UNITED STATES 31,839
6 SPAIN 31,686
7 BRAZIL 28,557
8 FINLAND 23,764
9 NORWAY 18,820
10 ITALY 18,367
Source: www.castroldriverrankings.com
*Data correct as of December 2, 2010
How is the Castrol Nations? Driver Rankings league calculated and how did Australia finish on top?
The Castrol Nations? Driver Rankings is calculated by adding together the scores of a country?s two
highest-ranked drivers.
Australia finished on top in 2010 thanks to the performances of Mark Webber and Will Power (6th),
ranked second and seventh in the Castrol Driver Rankings, the Australian duo knocked Great Britain off
the top spot in September. Germany?s pairing of Sebastian Vettel (1st) and Nico Rosberg (17th) did
enough to relegate Britain?s team of Jenson Button (7th) and Lewis Hamilton (5th) to third.
You?d expect the USA to come out on top due to the number of drivers they have in the Castrol Driver
Rankings.
Why did they finish the season in fifth place?
Because the Castrol Nations? Driver Rankings only looks for the two highest-ranked drivers from any given
country, the USA has found itself restricted to fifth place in 2010. Their two highest-ranked drivers are
NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson (8th) and his title rival Kevin Harvick (10th).
The sheer number of American drivers in the top 50 means that the USA?s position is far less likely to go
down over the coming years than that of other nations.
With seven drivers in this year?s Formula 1 World Championship (including the World Champion) and
such a strong motorsport heritage, is it a surprise that Germany did not top the Castrol Nations? Driver
Rankings table?
Yes. Sebastian Vettel?s status as the number one driver in the Castrol Driver Rankings gave Germany a
great foundation to challenge for the top spot, and dropped scores by Jenson Button early in the year
did allow them to replace Great Britain at the top of the Castrol Nations? Driver Rankings for two weeks
in May.
However, with Germany?s second highest-ranked driver, Nico Rosberg, not making it higher than 14th at
any point in 2010, they have had to play second fiddle to Australia, which has had Mark Webber and
Will Power both solidly in the top 10 all year.
Single performance
Who had the best single Castrol Driver Rankings performance of the year?
Unexpectedly it was not a Formula 1 driver, nor a World Rally Championship star. Instead it was Mike
Rockenfeller (63rd), Romain Dumas (170th) and Timo Bernhard (168th), who scored 2040 points each for
winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in June in an Audi R15-plus.
Fernando Alonso was next up, netting 2026 points for his Singapore Grand Prix win while Sebastien Loeb
scored 1992 on seven separate occasions during the year. Sebastian Vettel?s highest score was 1868,
which he managed four times.
Predictions Will this year?s strong performance restrict Vettel?s chances of leading the Castrol Driver Rankings in
2011?
Probably not. Vettel won only five grands prix in 2010 ? a relatively small amount compared to recent
world champions ? and so has a great opportunity to retain his number one spot throughout 2011. His
single points finish from the first two races of this year, for example, will be easy to improve on provided
his Red Bull holds together and proves competitive. Plus, he is guaranteed to hang onto his top spot until
at least the second week of March, when the F1 season kicks off.
To see the full Castrol Rankings and register for weekly updates, please go to:
www.castroldriverrankings.com
