By Thomas Miles
Date posted: December 23, 2022
The coveted global Autosport Top 50 drivers of 2022 have been released and two of Australia’s and New Zealand’s biggest talents feature in the top 10.
After collecting the IndyCar and Supercars championships respectively, Australia’s Will Power and New Zealand’s Shane van Gisbergen were named as some of the best drivers currently racing around the world.
Fresh from his second straight Formula 1 title, few were surprised to see Max Verstappen top the list after dominating the pinnacle of motorsport, while championship runner-up Charles Leclerc also trailed the Dutchman in the driver ratings.
Rounding out the podium was the youngest World Rally Championship winner ever in Kalle Rovanpera, who beat Colin McRae’s record by five years and 88 days.
Australia’s Will Power celebrates winning the 2022 IndyCar Series title. Photo by Michael L. Levitt / LAT Images
The first of the Australians was Power, who was awarded P8 in the driver ratings after scoring his second IndyCar Series title.
Although the Penske driver scored a solitary race win at Detroit, the 41-year-old showed he still has express pace by recording an all-time record of five pole positions throughout 2022.
The Australian rose up 34 places on Autosport’s Top 50 list, to edge ahead of McLaren star Lando Norris and trail the likes of Josef Newgarden, Stoffel Vandoorne and George Russell.
Only two spots behind Power was van Gisbergen, whose record-breaking 2022 championship success was enough to give him a historic top 10 berth.
The Kiwi Triple Eight Race Engineering star is the first Supercars driver ever to crack the top 10 on the list which ranks all drivers and motorsport categories across the world.
Shane van Gisbergen did a lot of celebrating in 2022.
Jamie Whincup was a regular member of the Autosport top 50, featuring nine times between 2002 and 2021, while Scott McLaughlin got as high as 13th in 2020 after the last of his three straight Supercars championships.
But the Autosport ranking was just the latest addition to a long list of records broken by van Gisbergen in 2022.
No one could stop the Kiwi from causing to his third Supercars championship across a near perfect campaign, which included Bathurst 1000 glory with Garth Tander and a memorable triumph holding off Cameron Waters in the Pukekohe farewell.
In total van Gisbergen won more races in 2022 than the likes of Jason Bright, Todd Kelly, James Courtney and Rick Kelly did across their entire Supercars careers.
His 21 victories smashed the previous record of the most wins in a season held by Scott McLaughlin for his 18-win 2019 championship.
In addition to destroying the Supercars field, van Gisbergen also finished second in his Australian Rally Championship debut and scored points with a P9 outright finish in his first attempt at a World Rally Championship round.
Van Gisbergen kept the likes of NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano, Formula E runner-up Mitch Evans and Spanish Formula 1 stars Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz outside of the top 10.
Another high-performing Kiwi Scott Dixon arrived in #17 due to another solid IndyCar campaign, where he fell just short of a seventh championship.
Scott McLaughlin’s success in IndyCar this year has seen him recognised as one of the leading drivers in the world once again. Photo by Michael L. Levitt / LAT Images
The other New Zealander to star in the 2022 IndyCar Series, McLaughlin re-entered his name into the Autosport Top 50.
The 29-year-old cemented himself as one of the stars of the high-calibre category with three “top-drawer” wins and a rise from 14th to fourth in the championship standings.
Although #28 is not McLaughlin’s personal best in the Autosport Top 50, it is proof his exploits for Penske in IndyCar is reverberating globally.
With four drivers rated inside the top 50 drivers in the world, it is clear Australian and New Zealand motorsport is continuing to produce talent capable of competing and beating anyone.
For more of the latest motorsport news pick up the latest issue of AUTO ACTION.
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