Final 2016 AR World Ranking Released

Press Release / 15.12.2016

Not unexpectedly, top of the AR World Rankings is team New Zealand Seagate with a maximum of 700 points. Having won the last 3 World Championships and a bunch of Qualifiers it is difficult to see any other team contending for the top ranking. This is despite team Captain Nathan Faavae retiring at the end of 2015, but joining the team to win two races this year.

The excitement falls then to the two USA teams, Columbia Vidaraid in second (526 points) and Adventure Medical Kits (AMK) third (513 points). While Columbia Vidaraid has been a mainstay at the top of the rankings holding both 1st and 2nd positions, AMK are determined to climb higher and have stamped their authority on the series throughout 2016. Their confidence is well founded having beat Columbia Vidaraid at this years AR World Championship in Australia which has narrowed the gap between these teams to only 13 points… Watch the first cycle of next years rankings to see if AMK can go into second.

Swedish Armed Forces Adventure team (SAFAT) have maintained their 4th ranking but the top team from France, team Naturex, scored well at the World Championship and are now holding their highest world ranking of 5th, just 20 points behind SAFAT.

Another big mover over 2016 has been Estonia ACE Adventure who have joined the top 10 with a world ranking of 8th (311 points). They are up from 12th in the previous ranking cycle. Interestingly they are the only team in the top 10 who are yet to win a Qualifier race outright - lets see if 2017 is their year.

The AR World Championship scores 2.5x the points of a normal Qualifier so it is a great opportunity for teams from the host nation to score well. Australian team Shotz Sports Nutrition, who won the previous XPD, performed extremely well placing 6th in the most competitive world championship field ever, which catapulted them to a world ranking of 10th.

Congratulations to the new entries to the world top 20, including Painted Wolf from South Africa, DSN74 Hoka from France, Shotz Sports Nutrition from Australia, Raid Gallaecia Fridama from Spain and Ansilta-Viento Andino from Argentina.

Canada has been a hotbed of expedition racing so watch Tecnu Adventure Racing (ranked 24th) and Canada AR (ranked 30th) as they climb their way up the rankings in 2017. Both of these teams have raced the Cameco Cowboy Tough in Wyoming and you can expect they will be using that knowledge at the AR World Championship next year.

For every team who goes up, one must go down, and sadly an injury caused team Godzone Adventure OMM to withdraw from the 2016 ARWC, which has seen them fall to a world ranking of 14th. Since the inception of the world rankings this team has always been in the top ten, and often in the top 5.

The next cycle of rankings will include results from 2017 events including Godzone Adventure in New Zealand (February/March), Expedicion Guarani in Paraguay (March) and Huairasinchi in Ecuador (April/May).

1 - Seagate - 700 (New Zealand)
2 - Columbia Vidaraid - 526 (USA)
3 - Adventure Medical Kits - 513 (USA)
4 - Swedish Armed Forces Adventure Team - 431 (Sweden)
5 - Naturex - 411 (France)
6 - Merrell Adventure Addicts - 395 (South Africa)
7 - Haglöfs Silva - 313 (Sweden)
8 - Estonian ACE Adventure - 311 (Estonia)
9 - Sanlam Painted Wolf - 258 (South Africa)
10 - Shotz Sports Nutrition - 238 (Australia)
11 - Peak Performance - 233 (Sweden)
12 - Bivouac Inov8 - 214 (New Zealand)
13 - R’ADYS Team Switzerland - 213 (Switzerland)
14 - GODZone Adventure OMM - 201 (United Kingdom)
15 - YogaSlackers - 200 (USA)
16 - Sweco Adventure - 176 (Sweden)
17 - French Mountain Raiders (FMR) - 173 (France)
18 - RaidsAventure.fr - 146 (France)
19 - DSN74 Hoka - 140 (France)
20 - Raid Gallaecia Fridama - 138 (Spain)
20 - Ansilto Viento Andina - 138 (Argentina)

For more details on the AR World Series see http://www.arworldseries.com

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