Aidan Hills Climbs in the Ryan Motorsport Insurance MG NEWS DAY National Rankings
Aidan Hills, a driver for Ryan Motorsport Insurance, has made significant progress in the MG NEWS DAY National Rankings after securing another victory at Donington Park. The Mazda MX-5 pilot claimed the Miata Trophy opener in Leicestershire, marking his eighth win of 2025. However, his streak of undefeated performances in the series was broken during the second race when he experienced a slide at the Melbourne Hairpin, narrowly avoiding a collision with his teammate.
Despite this setback, Hills’ single victory was enough to move him up from 13th to 7th on the leaderboard. If he had continued his dominance in the Miata Trophy, he would have been within the top five. This week’s rankings highlight several other drivers who have also improved their positions.
Only three UK car racing events took place last weekend, which means the next driver to improve his standing is found as far down as 20th in the table: Jason Smyth. The Formula Ford 1600 driver secured two more United championship victories at Lydden Hill, bringing his total for the year to seven and moving him up from outside the top 50.
Further down the list, Ollie Reuben led a special race celebrating 60 years of the TVR Car Club at Donington Park. Driving his Griffith, he defeated a field of Tuscans to claim his sixth win of the year, re-entering the rankings at 31st place.
Another notable improvement comes from Thorburn Astin, a frontrunner in the BMW Supercup. He won twice at Snetterton, pushing him into the top 50 at 38th place.
Key Drivers and Their Achievements
Here are some of the standout drivers and their performance in the latest rankings:
- Ali Bray (Mazda MX-5 Mk1) – 14 overall wins
- George Line (Dallara F308) – 10 overall wins
- James Ibbotson (Hillman Imp Super) – 10 class wins
- Matthew Highcock (BMW 120i) – 9 overall wins
- Rocco Coronel (Ginetta G40 Junior Evo) – 9 overall wins
- Ben Short (Mazda MX-5 Mk1) – 8 overall wins
- Aidan Hills (Mazda MX-5 Mk3) – 8 overall wins
- Paul Sibley (MG Midget) – 8 overall wins
- Taylor O’Flanagan (Caterham 7 310R) – 8 overall wins
- Marcus Littlewood (Radical SR3 XXR) – 8 overall wins
The rankings continue with several drivers achieving consistent results across different classes and events. For example:
- Jason Smyth (Van Diemen RF00/JL12) – 7 overall wins
- Ollie Reuben (TVR Griffith) – 6 overall wins
- Thorburn Astin (BMW 1 Series F20/F21) – 6 overall wins
How the Rankings Are Determined
The rankings include all car races in the UK and Ireland, excluding qualification, repechage, consolation, and handicap races. No races from other countries are included.
Class wins are only counted when there are at least six starters in the class. Exceptions apply for multi-stage events where six or more drivers have participated in earlier heats, and for merged championships where the slower championship has at least 10 starters across all classes.
Only classes divided by car characteristics are considered, not those based on driver attributes such as ability, professional status, age, or experience. Each race counts once, so an overall winner’s class win is not added again.
In case of ties, overall wins take precedence. If the tie remains, the average grid size for a driver’s wins determines the final ranking.
