Jockeying For Position – AR World Rankings June 2016

Seagate remain firmly on top, despite their A team not racing this cycle, and so they should after claiming the previous two consecutive world championship wins and a swath of Qualifier victories. Not much will change also for the top 3 teams until the dust settles at the AR World Championship in the Shoalhaven, Australia in just over 4 months time. In fact, there has been very little movement in top 20, pretty much reflecting the last cycle of the rankings!

The most significant move this cycle though is definitely the South African team Merrell Adventure Addicts, who have moved into 4th in the world, their highest ranking to date. This team is punching well above it’s weight as their current ranking does not include a result from the ARWC in Ecuador. Given that the world rankings include the previous two World Championships (and these races have a multiplier of 2.5x points), Merrell Adventure Addicts are in an enviable position come the end of the year when they are likely to add a second world championship result to their score. The question is how high can they go?

Expedition Africa: Day One / Sunday Photography: Bruce Viaene

For the savy followers of the rankings however, if you look outside the spotlight of the world top 20, there is some interesting positioning going on. While some of the “big gun” teams have been resting this cycle, a new wave of up and coming teams have been making their mark. In fact, three of the four Qualifier races have been won by teams new to the ARWS Rankings, including New Zealand Yealand Family Wines, France DSN74 Hoka and South Africa Featherbed. Eyes will be on these teams at the World Championship!

For many teams just reaching the top 20 is a career goal and it will be worth following some of the notable performers from this last cycle. From the USA, keep and eye on Happy Mutant Main Nerve and Owwwp Merica, both who are likely to be making an appearance at the ARWC in Australia. Raid Gallaecia Fridama are a strong team from Spain and have debuted in the top 20 this cycle – make sure you watch them in the Raid In France in September. Uruguay Natural Ultra Sports will be hoping for a good result at the Expedicion Guarani next month for a crack at the top 20. Mountain Designs from Australia are currently sitting with a 21st ranking and are looking for a solid result at the world champs to nudge them into the top 20.

The next cycle of rankings will include results from Expedicion Guarani (Paraguay) in July, Cameco Cowboy Tough (USA) also in July, Huairasinchi (Columbia) in August, Itera (Ireland) also in August, and Raid in France (France) in September.

For more information on the AR World Rankings and a detailed list of all AR World Ranked teams, please visit https://arworldseries.com/rankings.htm

1 – Seagate – 685 (New Zealand)
2 – Columbia Vidaraid – 541 (Spain)
3 – Adventure Medical Kits – 458 (USA)
4 – Merrell Adventure Addicts – 395 (South Africa)
5 – Swedish Armed Forces Adventure Team – 371 (Sweden)
6 – Naturex – 364 (France)
7 – GODZone Adventure Team – Expedicion Guarani – 338 (United Kingdom)
8 – Haglöfs Silva – 313 (Sweden)
9 – Peak Performance 298 (Sweden)
10 – YogaSlackers – 275 (USA)
11 – Movistar Ecuador – 246 (Ecuador)
12 – Estonian ACE Adventure – 223 (Estonia)
13 – R’ADYS Team Switzerland – 203 (Switzerland)
14 – Bivouac Inov-8 – 191 (New Zealand)
15 – Walhalla Expedicion Guarani – 148 (Paraguay)
16 – Raid Gallaecia Fridama – 141 (Spain)
17 – France Green Caffte Costa Rica – 138 (France)
18 – Arverne Outdoor – 136 (France)
19 – Fenix Multisport – Adidas – 136 (Czech Republic)
20 – Sweco Adventure – 128 (Sweden)
For more details on the AR World Series see https://arworldseries.com