We’re fast coming up on the last World Tour event before the grand final in Monaco, so it’s time to take another look at our driver rankings.
It’s a system we rolled out in August, to show how the Nations Cup drivers rate in the live events. This gives us an insight into how the drivers perform under the pressure of the stage lights against their greatest rivals, and a clue what to expect from the next time they meet.
We’ve updated the rankings to reflect the latest performances in Salzburg. As per our prediction last month, Takuma Miyazono has showed some incredible form to leap to near the top of our rankings — some effort considering he missed the first two events — while the UK’s Adam Suswillo has found some firm ground after a shaky start to the season to punch into the top ten too.
Now, let’s get to the rankings!
#1: Igor Fraga 🇧🇷 (IOF_RACING)
- Avg. Finishing Position: 2nd
- Race Wins: 5
- Best Result: 1st (Nurburgring Final, New York Final)
- Worst Result: 7th (Paris Final)
- Previous Rank: #1 (▲0)
- Highest Rank: #1
The champion from 2018 didn’t even race in Salzburg, but retains his top ranking. That’s simply down to the fact he’s won so many races — five wins from seven races. As he will again not race in Tokyo, there’s a chance he could be passed at the top heading into the Monaco final but that’ll be purely down to absence.
Things have healed somewhat since that tetchy New York event, but it’s safe to say Fraga will probably be the favorite to defend his crown come November. It’s not like he’ll be unchallenged though…
#2: Mikail Hizal 🍪 (TRL_LIGHTNING)
- Avg. Finishing Position: 3rd
- Race Wins: 2
- Best Result: 1st (Salzburg Final)
- Worst Result: 10th (Nurburgring Repechage)
- Previous Rank: #2 (▲0)
- Highest Rank: #2
Hizal is close at Fraga’s heels, just as they were heading over Raidillon in the New York event. With four race wins to his name, Hizal is still one of only two multiple race winners — with the Brazilian — and finally took a World Tour win in Salzburg with a flawless performance.
We’ll see the Cookie Monster back in action in Tokyo, and if he repeats his exploits in Austria he’ll be the form driver heading into November’s final.
#3: Cody N. Latkovski 🇦🇺 (Nik_Makozi)
- Avg. Finishing Position: 4th
- Race Wins: 1
- Best Result: 1st (Nurburgring Semi-Final)
- Worst Result: 9th (Paris Final)
- Previous Rank: #3 (▲0)
- Highest Rank: #2
Latkovski had a quiet but productive Salzburg event. We’ve always known he’s fast, but Austria proved he has some more intelligence in his driving too. He finished his semi-final behind only Hizal, and was behind Miyazono as well in the final, but was well poised to take advantage of any errors while not making any of his own.
Tokyo, nearer his own time zone, might be Latkovski’s chance to book his Finals spot without needing to rely on his online form. We wouldn’t bet against it too firmly.
#4: Takuma Miyazono 🇯🇵 (Kerokkuma_ej20)
- Avg. Finishing Position: 3rd
- Race Wins: 1
- Best Result: 1st (Salzburg Semi-Final)
- Worst Result: 4th (New York Final)
- Previous Ranking: #10 (▲6)
- Best Ranking: #4
One driver on a move up the rankings is Takuma Miyazono. He’s only been to two events so far, but left a huge impression on both. Never lower than fourth — and even that was a podium that was lost beyond his own control — Miyazono is definitely a man to watch. He took his first race win in Salzburg, and only came second in the final there due to a perfect race from Hizal.
With the home advantage at play, Miyazono could be the next name engraved on a winner’s trophy in Tokyo.
#5: Coque Lopez 🇪🇸 (Williams_Coque14)
- Avg. Finishing Position: 4th
- Race Wins: 0
- Best Result: 2nd (Nurburgring Semi-Final)
- Worst Result: 6th (Nurburgring Final)
- Previous Ranking: #4 (▼1)
- Best Ranking: #4
Coque Lopez came so close to a win in Germany that really we’d have expected a World Tour win from him by now. He’s certainly the most consistent driver out there, with every one of his eight race finishes being in sixth place or better and he’s never needed a repechage to qualify for a final. Only Miyazono can mirror that claim, but Lopez has attended every World Tour so far.
Can he avenge that loss at the Tokyo event? Well, we’re pretty sure he won’t be any worse than sixth…
#6: Jonathan Wong 🇭🇰 (saika159-)
- Avg. Finishing Position: 5th
- Race Wins: 1
- Best Result: 1st (Paris Semi-Final)
- Worst Result: 8th (Nurburgring Final)
- Previous Ranking: #6 (▲0)
- Best Ranking: #4
Only Miyazono’s incredible form prevents Wong from holding onto the top Asian driver spot. While his best performance of the year so far definitely came in Paris, the driver from Hong Kong has kept solid form across the rest of the World Tour events. He’s qualified for every final, and last time out scored his best result since the season opener.
Undoubtedly fast, Tokyo could be a good time for Wong to make a final push back onto the podium and carry some form through to Monaco.
#7: Nicolas Rubilar 🇨🇱 (FT_NicoR)
- Avg. Finishing Position: 5th
- Race Wins: 1
- Best Result: 1st (Paris Final)
- Worst Result: 10th (New York Final)
- Previous Ranking: #5 (▼2)
- Best Ranking: #5
The Chilean was the first driver to qualify for the World Final, with his memorable victory in Paris. Since then, things have been a little more mid-pack. Rubilar may just be enjoying his driving with the pressure off, but he’s failed to qualify for the final race at two of the past three events, and came 10th in the one he did qualify for.
Anyone who’s been watching GTPlanet League won’t bet against him turning that around though. There he outranked everyone, including Hizal, so we’ll be keeping one eye on him in Tokyo.
#8: Giorgio Mangano 🇮🇹 (Giorgio_57)
- Avg. Finishing Position: 4th
- Race Wins: 0
- Best Result: 2nd (Nurburgring Semi-Final)
- Worst Result: 7th (Salzburg Semi-Final)
- Previous Ranking: #7 (▼1)
- Best Ranking: #3
The Italian driver missed New York, which precipitated a little slip down the rankings, but Salzburg didn’t do much to arrest that slide. Ending 7th in the Semi-Final, Mangano was eliminated in the repechage.
That said, he’s one of a number of very quick Europeans with a shout at a podium finish in Tokyo, and we’d be surprised not to see him racing in the final at the weekend.
#9: Adam Suswillo 🇬🇧 (Williams_Adam41)
- Avg. Finishing Position: 4th
- Race Wins: 1
- Best Result: 1st (Nurburgring Repechage)
- Worst Result: 11th (Salzburg Repechage)
- Previous Ranking: #13 (▲4)
- Best Ranking: #9
By contrast to his Williams team-mate Mangano, Suswillo had a very solid Salzburg event. After a faintly disastrous New York, where he had to rely on the repechage lottery — which ended very badly — he seems to have redoubled his efforts to avoid the lucky loser race at all. Backing up a third place in his semi-final with a fourth in the final, behind Hizal, Miyazono, and Latkovski, Suswillo showed just how fast he can be.
Tokyo is another chance for him to place well and Suswillo is another driver we wouldn’t object to a sneaky bet on a podium finish for either… if he can get through his semi-final unscathed, that is.
#10: Rayan Derrouiche 🇫🇷 (RC_Miura)
- Avg. Finishing Position: 5th
- Race Wins: 0
- Best Result: 3rd (Nurburgring Final)
- Worst Result: 9th (New York Final)
- Previous Ranking: #8 (▼2)
- Best Ranking: #8
After missing the first event in Paris, Derrouiche’s strong Nurburgring seemed to give us another outsider for silverware. Three third-place finishes in a row in his first three races was exciting form, but it has derailed slightly since. A ninth in the New York final and a 12th in the Salzburg final — even preceded by a second place finish in the repechage — has seen the Frenchman fall to tenth.
But we don’t reckon those days of sharp end finishes are behind him, and it’ll be no surprise to see him heading back up the list come the end of this weekend’s racing.
The Top 25
The list above accounts for less than a quarter of the 43 drivers who’ve made it to a World Tour. We’re keeping track of all of them in our complicated scoring matrix, but due to the number of drivers who’ve only raced in a single semi-final at one or two events, we’re only looking at the top 25.
There’s no doubting the quality of the field just outside the top ten either. Three of Europe’s top five qualifiers from the online rankings sit in the chasing pack, with Baptiste Beauvois (TRL_TSUTSU), Patrik Blazsan (Williams_Fuvaros), and Salvatore Maraglino (JIM_Pirata666_) all between 11th and 20th. The 2018 Asia-Oceania champion Ryota Kokubun (Akagi_1942mi) only ranks in 13th, with North America’s top two drivers — Andrew Brooks (Deafsun96) and Daniel Solis (CAR_Lamb) — come in at 12th and 19th.
To all of the drivers who did make it into our rankings, congratulations and good luck in Tokyo!
- #11 (▲4): Baptiste Beauvois – FR – (TRL_TSUTSU)
- #12 (▲4): Andrew Brooks – CA – (Deafsun96)
- #13 (▲1): Ryota Kokubun – JP – (Akagi_1942mi)
- #14 (▼4): Patrik Blazsan – HU – (Williams_Fuvaros)
- #15 (▼4): Manuel Rodriguez – ES – (TRL_MANURODRY)
- #16 (–): Salvatore Maraglino – IT – (JIM_Pirata666_)
- #17 (▲7): Adam Wilk – AU – (Adam_2167)
- #18 (▼6): Tatsuya Sugawara – JP – (blackbeauty-79)
- #19 (▼1): Daniel Solis – US – (CAR_Lamb)
- #20 (–): Adriano Carrazza – BR – (UDI_Didico15)
- #21 (–): Fabian Portilla – CL – (FT_Mcqueen91)
- #22 (–): Kin Long Li – HK – (KarS_0627)
- #23 (▼4): Yat Lam Law – HK – (NegiFISH_NaF)
- #24 (▼4): Pierre Lenoir – FR – (RC_Snake91)
- #25 (▲0): Benjamin Bader – HU – (ROH_Benito)
See more articles on World Tour.
