(Photo: EKN - Nate Dean)

The eKartingNews.com TaG Driver Rankings presented by Skip Barber Racing School is underway for the 2023 season with 14 events already logged into the standings. A busy winter period allowed drivers to make up ground while it dropped others who have either stepped away or limited their early schedules, which has shuffled up the positions except for the #1 spot.

Five-time SKUSA Pro Tour and two-time defending USPKS champion Ryan Norberg (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) continues to lead the standings after finishing #1 five of the last six seasons. He’s only lost 23 points in total from the end of 2022 to now, but only now leads by 202. Now in the lead challenger position is former teammate Hayden Jones. The North Carolina driver has moved to Trinity Karting Group / Kart Republic for 2023, improving his score over the opening USPKS and SKUSA Pro Tour events. Following him up to third is Diego Ramos (PSL Karting / Birel ART). Despite a solid winter season, his points fell by one point, but put him into the top-three.

Dropping down to fourth is former #2 Jeremy Fletcher. Focused on car racing in 2023, Fletcher did return to the kart track for the USPKS and SKUSA WinterNationals with PSL Karting / Birel ART. He has 16 events counted over the last 12 months, so he may continue to drop should he not return to karting the rest of the year. Holding into the fifth spot is Alessandro de Tullio. The new Prime Powerteam / Birel ART driver lost points, but did record his first podium result with his new team at the Florida Winter Tour finale along with two top-7 finishes at SKUSA Pro Tour opener.

Improving 14 positions into the top-10 is Austin Garrison (Speed Concepts Racing / Redspeed). Garrison now sits sixth in the standings to start off 2023 coming off three podium results at the SKUSA Winter Series – including a Round Three victory. Falling out of the top-three to seventh is Marijn Kremers (PSL Karting / Birel ART). Pulling double duty throughout the 2022 season, Kremers is back to focus solely on shifterkart racing, where he holds the #1 spot in the EKN Driver Rankings. Don’t be surprised if he jumps in throughout the season.

Up one spot to eighth is 2022 FIA Karting World Champion Matheus Morgatto (PSL Karting / Birel ART). The Brazilian was able to notch another Florida Winter Tour championship to his belt with three wins and grabbed his first SKUSA Pro Tour victory at the WinterNationals to be the current championship leader. As he continues to grab these type of results, watch for him to continue moving up. Pauly Massimino is down two spots to ninth, prior to his return to Mike Doty Racing / Kosmic. Massimino and Speed Concepts Racing have parted ways, with Massimino set to continue his run at the USPKS championship this weekend sitting third in the point standings.

The biggest ‘On the Move’ into the top-10 is Canadian Ayden Ingratta (Speed Concepts Racing / Redspeed), up 76 spots to tenth. Ingratta is the top rookie thus far in the 2023 season with already 14 races counted toward the Driver Rankings. Ingratta will be unable to improve his score this weekend, ruled out due to an allergic reaction that forced him to stay home and recover. Expect for him to battle for a top-five spot by the end of the season.

Out of the top-10 includes Cameron Weinberg (Tesoro Raceworx / CRG) and Nate Cicero (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic), dropping out of eighth and tenth respectively. Ones to watch for next month include British drivers Brandon Carr (Ryan Perry Motorsport / Tony Kart) and Joe Turney (Chad Dokken Racing / Kart Republic) – sitting 19th and 33rd currently. Carr enters the USPKS Texas Grand Prix this weekend as the championship leader, poised to break into the top-10 with another strong performance.

Upcoming Events

TaG #1 – Ryan Norberg
Orlando, Florida

(Photo: EKN – Nate Dean)

The generational hall of fame career continues for Ryan Norberg as the Florida driver is gunning to add to his seven championships between SKUSA and USPKS. It feels like a more relaxed, and ‘fun’ start to the 2023 season despite the qualifying hiccup in Orlando for USPKS. The Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic driver is enjoying the challenge thus far at the SKUSA Winter Series and the two weekends at his home track for USPKS and SKUSA Pro Tour. Now begins the real work with Norberg sitting sixth and ninth going into the summer season.

Point Breakdown

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TaG #2 – Hayden Jones
Matthews, North Carolina

(Photo: Studio52.us)

This is familiar ground for Jones as the North Carolina driver was at the second spot dating back to August 2022. That was when he was racing under the Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic while now it’s with the Trinity Karting Group / Kart Republic brands. Jones was a contender in his debut with the new team and chassis in Orlando for USPKS and SKUSA, nearly on the podium both weekends. He’ll need to match or better his results from 2022 in order to remain among the top-three in the EKN Driver Rankings.

Point Breakdown

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TaG #3 – Diego Ramos
Davenport, Florida

(Photo: On Track Promotions – otp.ca)

The Brazil native is nearing the 1-year anniversary of his move to the PSL Karting / Birel ART operation. It was the USPKS weekend at Road America in July, in which his run began and where he started to gather results toward the EKN Driver Rankings. Despite his four podium results to his credit of the seven races that are his best point totals, he is still missing that big win. The USPKS Orlando weekend did not pan out as he hoped and just missed out for the SKUSA weekend as Ramos now is looking to Texas for that breakthrough victory.

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 April 24, 2023

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