British Rally Driver Ranking List
Background
Tynemouth Computer Services (TCS)
have provided seeding information to rally organisers for more
than twenty years. The seeding information is derived from a statistical
analysis of stage times. In 1997 TCS were approached by the Rally
Championship Steering Group (which meets under the auspices of
the MSA) to produce a unified ranking list for British Rally Drivers
competing at championship level. The ranking list was sponsored
by Sony in association with Volkswagen Motor Sport from 1998 to
2000. Pirelli took over the sponsorship in 2001 and the top hundred
names will be published in Motorsport News (formerly Motoring
News) at regular intervals during the season. The full list now
runs to nearly four thousand names and due to significant demand
from competitors, the Rally Championship Steering Group and Pirelli
have kindly given permission for an extended list covering the
top three hundred drivers to be published. The efforts of Steve
Gregg in promoting the Ranking List are also acknowledged.
The algorithms used to derive
the ranking list are proprietary but the general principals on
which they are based are as follows:
- The rankings are a measure of
the combination of driver and car. No attempt is made to separate
out the performance of the vehicle.
- The rankings are based predominantly
on typical stage times with poor times due to punctures, mechanical
problems or offs excluded by a statistical analysis. Overall
positions influence the rankings to a much smaller extent.
- The rankings are based on a
drivers best 3 performances with a small weighting towards the
best performance.
- Ranking performances are aged
after 6 months to reduce their significance so that to remain
at the top, a driver has to continue to produce good performances;
but someone who has a run of bad luck will not suddenly vanish
from the rankings.
- The rankings are based on performances
in the World Rally Championship, Kwik-Fit Pirelli British Rally
Championship, MSA National Gravel Rally Championship, ANCRO Clubmans
Gavel Rally Championship, Silverstone Competition Tyres (BTRDA)
Gold Star championship, Silkolene (BTRDA) 1400 Championship,
GPR MSA National Asphalt Rally Championship, the County Saab
Scottish Championship and the Welsh National Championship together
with selected other events.
- Factors to relate performances
in the various championships are derived from the performances
of drivers who compete in rounds of more than one championship.