2024 GRID Ranking
For the first time, not counting Year 1 of the GRID Ranking, the first three weeks had three different leaders, with each leading the GRID Ranking for the first time in their respective careers. Jorge Martin from MotoGP led the first weekend, but by the second weekend, Will Brown from the Repco Supercars Championship took the lead.
The third weekend of the GRID Ranking looked to have Josef Newgarden leading until halfway through the week when IndyCar announced the disqualification of Newgarden from the St. Pete season opener, awarding the win to Pato O’Ward. With the penalty, Newgarden dropped out of the GRID Ranking entirely. Then, it was a familiar face leading the GRID Ranking, World Rally Championship driver Sebastien Ogier.
Once again, Ogier ran a part-time season in WRC in a year when full-time drivers did not win most races. This allowed Ogier to keep the lead until Week 13 when Pecco Bagnaia from MotoGP took the lead.
For the first time in the GRID Ranking, MotoGP had two riders lead at least one week of the ranking. It was those two riders battling for the championship in MotoGP and the lead of the GRID Ranking. At the end of the season, for the first time, the GRID Ranking World Champion did not win the championship of their respective series.
Bagnaia won the GRID Ranking World Championship, but Martin took the MotoGP World Championship. The difference was MotoGP’s Sprint Race format. In 2024, Bagnaia had 11 Grand Prix wins and 16 podium finishes, including a fifth-place finish. Martin also had 16 podiums, but ten of those podiums were second-place finishes.
Also, Bagnaia became the first MotoGP rider to win more than 10 Grand Prix races and not win the World Championship in MotoGP. Bagnaia was the only competitor in the top five not to win their respective series championship. Martin, Brown, Alex Palou and Max Verstappen all claimed their respective series titles.
The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano did not make the GRID Ranking and was ninth in the GRID Rating for the Cup Series. The last Cup Series champion to finish in the GRID Ranking was Joey Logano in 2022 and the last Cup Series champion to finish in the top 10 was Kyle Larson in 2021.
2023 GRID Ranking
2023 saw Max Verstappen and Red Bull put together one of the most dominating performances of all time in motorsports. Verstappen won all but three races en route to claiming the 2023 GRID Ranking World Championship and led the GRID Ranking every week. Sergio Perez had two race wins, bringing Red Bull a nearly perfect season, which came up one race short when Carlos Sainz capitalized at the Singapore Grand Prix when Red Bull had a rare off-weekend.
In a distant second place was Alex Palou, who dominated the NTT IndyCar Series for IndyCar standards with five wins and wrapped up the championship at Portland the race before the season finale. Brodie Kostecki came in third and claimed his first Repco Supercars Championship by holding off the 2022 GRID Ranking World Champion, Shane van Gisbergen.
“SVG” made history by becoming the first driver to score points in three GRID Ranking Series with his win in the NASCAR Cup Series at the Chicago Street Course. He finished in the top 10 in the WRC Rally New Zealand and joined Scott McLaughlin as the only other driver to score wins in two GRID Ranking Series. Van Gisbergen will not compete full-time in any GRID Ranking Series in 2024, meaning his streak of finishing in the top 20 of every GRID Ranking since 2017 will end.
Lewis Hamilton is the only driver who has finished in the GRID Ranking every season since 2017, but for the second consecutive year, he did not finish in the top 10. For the first time, the NASCAR Cup Series champion did not make it into the GRID Ranking final standings as Ryan Blaney was sixth in the NASCAR Rating by the end of the season. Not counting NASCAR, only MotoGP saw the championship come to the final race of the season as Pecco Bagnaia clinched it after Jorge Martin crashed out early.
2022 GRID Ranking
A historic display of domination was on full display in the Repco Supercars Championship when Shane van Gisbergen wrapped up the GRID Ranking at the Bathurst 1000 in October, becoming the first driver to wrap up the GRID Ranking in October! Van Gisbergen had 21 wins and 27 podiums in 34 races in the 2022 Supercars season. His season topped the GRID Ranking every week after Scott McLaughlin led the first weekend.
The season also saw Max Verstappen pull away from everyone in Formula 1 to claim the F1 World Drivers Championship early. Pecco Bagnaia overcame a 91-point deficit in MotoGP to claim his first World Championship.
Will Power won the IndyCar championship and finished fourth in the GRID Ranking with only one win. Still, a consistent season of podiums and top-10 finishes overcame Josef Newgarden’s five-win season.
2021 GRID Ranking & World Motorsport League
A historic GRID World Motorsport League saw Jamie Chadwick from the W Series become the first female racer to win a GRID World Championship. Her dominating performance in the W Series got her ahead of the rest of the racers across the world!
The GRID Ranking World Championship came down to Shane van Gisbergen, Sebastien Ogier, and Kyle Larson. Larson was eliminated after Ogier won the WRC season finale at Monza, setting it up for van Gisbergen to wrap it up at the Bathurst 1000.
“SVG” was in a position to win the GRID Ranking World Championship. However, a late flat tire with a handful of laps relegated him to the back. It allowed Ogier to win the GRID Ranking World Championship, becoming the first French and World Rally Championship driver to win the GRID Ranking.
2020 GRID Ranking & World Motorsport League
The 2020 GRID World Motorsport League (WML) saw the closest finish in the WML history. By 0.02, Phil Hanson took the title over Lewis Hamilton, who missed one race due to testing positive for COVID-19, but Hanson had a sensational season with 21 races, seven wins, 11 podiums, four poles and one fastest lap. Along with LMP2 Drivers FIA Endurance Trophy and European Le Mans Series – LMP2 Championship.
The 2020 GRID Ranking came down to Hamilton and Scott McLaughlin but Hamilton secured the GRID Ranking with two races left in the Formula 1 season. Hamilton became the third driver to win the GRID Ranking World Championship and the first Formula 1 driver to win the GRID Ranking World Championship. “Sir Lewis” was the world’s best, dominating the F1 season and earning Knighthood!
2019 GRID Ranking & World Motorsport League
The third season was historic and saw only one change in the GRID Ranking World Championship. Scott McLaughlin lead the GRID Ranking for a record 32 straight weeks, but a couple of DNS brought down McLaughlin’s point total, allowing Marc Marquez to overtake Scott with a dominant season and became the first two time and back to back GRID Ranking World Champion.
The ultimate motorsport league where races on two or four wheels compete on a global stage. The World Motorsport League follows drivers that compete in multiple series, all championship races are scored, and a GRID World Motorsport League Champion is crowned annually. Kazuki Nakajima from World Endurance Championship outscored Marc Marquez to earn the inaugural championship!
2018 GRID Ranking
The second season of the GRID Ranking again saw IndyCar racer Sebastien Bourdais lead the first weekend of the GRID Ranking, but it didn’t last long as NASCAR saw three drivers dominate most of the season. Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, and the 2017 GRID Ranking Champion Martin Truex, Jr. all exchanged the lead. However, Marc Marquez at MotoGP had several dominating races, earning the lead with a few weeks left. Busch failed to finish third or better at the NASCAR season finale, coming up short of passing Marquez by 0.01 points.
2017 GRID Ranking
The 2017 season was the inaugural year of the GRID Ranking. The first leader of the GRID Ranking was IndyCar racer Sebastien Bourdais, who would lead up until May, when he lost the lead to Kevin Harvick from NASCAR. However, Harvick had nothing for fellow competitor Martin Truex, Jr., the series champion. Truex earned eight wins, including the season finally, sealing the deal for the first GRID Ranking World Championship over MotoGP racer Marc Marquez.