Top 10 Drivers of 2022: Viktor Vranckx (2nd)

Series: RX2e
Championship Position: 1^st
Wins: 2
Podium Finishes: 5 (1^st/1^st/2^nd/2^nd/3^rd)

Viktor Vranckx arrived on the World RX scene like a whirlwind in 2022. An unknown quantity prior to the start of the season, the Belgian sped to back-to-back victories to immediately stamp his authority on proceedings in the single-spec FIA RX2e Championship – laying the foundations for his successful title triumph.

Coached by inaugural RX2e champion Guillaume De Ridder, Vranckx had the best in the business at his side – and he exploited that advantage to perfection. Despite giving away vital track knowledge to his Scandinavian rivals in Sweden and Norway, the teenage prodigy showed them a clean pair of heels on both occasions to race into an early championship lead.

In Rīga, Vranckx found himself in the wars somewhat, but his raw pace was not in question and come the final, he was right in the mix, taking the chequered flag barely half-a-second shy of race-winner Patrick O’Donovan, with Isak Sjökvist separating the pair in a photo-finish.

The margins were even finer next time out at Spa-Francorchamps, as the home hero was denied a popular win by just 0.150s, but that still allowed him to put one hand on the coveted crown – and despite again needing to battle back from early dramas in Catalunya, he was characteristically there when it mattered, hassling Sjökvist right the way to the finish line to maintain his 100 per cent podium record for the year. As rookie seasons go, it was sensational.