Analytical Report: Difference Between Judging Scores and Telemetry Data in the 2025 Drift Masters Season
Disclaimer:
This report has been prepared solely as an exploratory statistical analysis based on publicly available data from the Race Data Labs website, compared with the scores given by the judges. The data collected by the site comes from roof-mounted devices on the cars, which evaluate qualifying runs based on the variables Angle, Speed, Zone (accuracy of clipping zone hits), and Tyres Off (when the tyres leave the track). This report is not a scientific study, nor is it intended to present definitive or indisputable conclusions about driver favoritism or unfair treatment. Its content reflects only observed statistical trends, which would require more thorough, multidimensional, and statistically significant research before any official conclusions could be drawn.
1. Introduction
The qualifying scoring in Drift Masters competitions has sparked discussion among the audience, particularly due to the subjectivity of judging scores and the possibility of bias. The hypothesis of this analysis is that certain drivers may benefit from the judges’ evaluations — either because of their name (recognition) or nationality — compared to a purely objective performance as measured by the Race Data Labs system.
This report examines a comparison between the judges’ scores and the scores provided by the in-car telemetry system across five Drift Masters championship rounds (Rounds 2-6). The main metric used in the analysis is the ‘pos diff -/+’ column, which indicates the difference in a driver’s ranking as measured by the judges’ scores versus the system scores
2. Methodology
The analysis in this report is based on the calculated "Pos diff -/+" values contained in the table.
A positive value (> 0) indicates that a driver received a better ranking from the judges’ scores compared to the system scores. This is interpreted as an indicator of benefiting.
A negative value (< 0) indicates that a driver received a worse ranking from the judges’ scores compared to the system scores. This is interpreted as an indicator of losing positions.
The analysis was conducted at both the individual driver and nationality levels, calculating the total "pos diff" values for each driver and country, as well as country-level averages.
3. Analysis and Results
3.1 Driver-Level Examination
A clear divide between beneficiaries and those who suffered emerges among individual drivers. The most significant differences were observed in the following drivers:
Top Benefiting Drivers:
Jakub Przygonski (Poland): Total gain of +61 positions. The largest single gap was +20 positions in Round 4.
Itay Sadeh (Israel): Total gain of +55 positions. The largest single gap was +23 positions in Round 6.
Dawid Sposob (Poland): Total gain of +36 positions.
Top Suffering Drivers:
Lauri Heinonen (Finland): Total loss of -44 positions. The largest single gap was -7 positions in Round 2.
Teemu Asunmaa (Finland): Total loss of -44 positions. The largest single gap was -20 positions in Round 6.
Clint Van Oort (Netherlands): Total loss of -35 positions.
Among the drivers who experienced the largest single drop in position were Adrian Petricevic (Croatia, -28 positions in Round 6) and Espen Rohde (Norway, -27 positions in Round 5).
3.2 Country-Level Examination
When aggregating the driver-level figures by country, the observations are reinforced.
Top Benefiting Countries (Total):
Poland: Total gain of +137 positions.
Ireland: Total gain of +77 positions.
Israel: Total gain of +55 positions.
Top Suffering Countries (Total):
Finland: Total loss of -86 positions.
Norway: Total loss of -44 positions.
Netherlands: Total loss of -41 positions.
When adjusted for averages, Poland remains the top benefiting country. Finland and Norway, on the other hand, consistently appear among the suffering countries.
4. Discussion and Conclusions
Based on this analysis, there is a discernible statistical trend in the data that aligns with the original hypothesis. While individual driver performances naturally vary, the data indicates that certain drivers and their home countries have systematically received better rankings from the judges’ scores than what their telemetry data would suggest.
The cases of Jakub Przygonski and Dawid Sposob (both from Poland) and their country’s statistically significant positive difference may suggest that their performances were rated higher in the subjective evaluation.
Similarly, the cases of Lauri Heinonen and Teemu Asunmaa (both from Finland) and their country’s negative balance indicate that the judges’ evaluations have resulted in worse rankings for them compared to the objective assessment by the telemetry system.
It is important to emphasize that these observations alone do not prove that judges favor certain drivers or nationalities. It is possible that certain drivers drive in a style that appeals to the judges (e.g., a more aggressive line), even if it does not perfectly reflect in the telemetry data (such as angle, speed, and clipping zone accuracy). However, the data raises questions and provides a strong indication that subjective evaluation has a significant impact on the outcomes, and this impact is not evenly distributed among all drivers.
In summary, the analysis supports the hypothesis that there are systematic differences between the judges’ evaluations and the telemetry data, which are associated with certain drivers and nationalities. This difference has been positive for the top beneficiaries and negative for the top sufferers.
5. Summary
| Nationality | Total Difference (positions) | Largest Examples (drivers) |
|---|---|---|
| Beneficiaries | ||
| Poland | +137 | Jakub Przygonski, Dawid Sposob |
| Ireland | +77 | Jack Shanahan, Conor Shanahan |
| Israel | +55 | Itay Sadeh (only driver) |
| Sufferers | ||
| Finland | -86 | Lauri Heinonen, Teemu Asunmaa |
| Norway | -44 | Espen Rohde |
| Netherlands | -41 | Clint Van Oort |
6. Appendix: Detailed Results
This section presents complete listings of the position differences experienced by drivers and countries between the judges’ and system scores.
Overall Driver Position Difference (Pos diff -/+) in the 2025 Season
| country | driver | pos diff -/+ |
|---|---|---|
| Poland | Jakub Przygonski | 61 |
| Israel | Itay Sadeh | 55 |
| Poland | Dawid Sposob | 36 |
| Ireland | Duane Mckeever | 31 |
| Finland | Juha Pöytälaakso | 28 |
| Estonia | Oliver Randalu | 28 |
| Finland | Juha Rintanen | 28 |
| Ireland | Conor Shanahan | 24 |
| Ireland | Jack Shanahan | 20 |
| Poland | Jakub Krol | 19 |
| Poland | Piotr Więcek | 17 |
| Japan | Noaki Nakamura | 14 |
| czech | Marco Zakouril | 14 |
| Switzerland | Yves Meyer | 13 |
| Ireland | Chris Brady | 10 |
| uae | Nasser Alharbali | 10 |
| Ireland | Fionn Roche | 10 |
| Poland | Pawel Korpulinski | 9 |
| Lithuania | Andrius Vasiliauskas | 8 |
| Norway | Orjan Nilsen | 7 |
| France | Jason Banet | 6 |
| Ireland | James Deane | 4 |
| United Kingdom | Ryan Hughes | 3 |
| Finland | Niko Määttälä | 3 |
| Ireland | Gary Dunne | 3 |
| Ireland | Alan Hynes | 3 |
| Finland | Joona Waronen | 3 |
| Finland | Toni Ojatalo | 3 |
| United States | Dmitriy Brutskiy | 2 |
| Norway | Simen Olsen | 2 |
| Ukraine | Artur Harvylenko | 2 |
| Ukraine | Konstantyn Shchurenko | 1 |
| turkey | Enver Haskasap | 1 |
| Estonia | Kevin Pesur | 1 |
| Japan | Daigo Saito | 0 |
| Ireland | Tomas Kiely | 0 |
| Latvia | Daniels Baumanis | 0 |
| Ireland | David Garvey | 0 |
| Latvia | Edgars Krogeris | -1 |
| Ireland | Mohamad Chehab | -1 |
| Lithuania | Sandra Janusauskaite | -2 |
| Finland | Mika Keski-Korpi | -3 |
| Ireland | Dave Egan | -3 |
| Spain | Alejandro Perez Beraza | -3 |
| Finland | Ville Kaukonen | -4 |
| Ireland | Kevin Quinn | -4 |
| Ireland | Conor Falvey | -4 |
| Poland | Adam Zalewski | -5 |
| bulgaria | Petyo Radichev | -5 |
| Netherlands | Roene Zwanenburg | -6 |
| Ukraine | Oleksii Holovnia | -7 |
| serbia | Nikola Illic | -7 |
| Germany | Max Heidrich | -8 |
| Ireland | Davan Leahy | -8 |
| Latvia | Martins Immermanis | -8 |
| Ireland | Harry Kerr | -8 |
| Sweden | Pontus Hartman | -9 |
| Spain | Ruben Bolanos | -9 |
| Finland | Teemu Peltola | -10 |
| Hungary | Kevin Piskolty | -10 |
| Lithuania | Benediktas Cirba | -10 |
| Finland | Paulus Perkkiö | -10 |
| United States | Amanda Sorensen | -10 |
| Spain | Joan Caballer | -10 |
| Portugal | Diogo Correia | -11 |
| Latvia | Rolands Berzins | -12 |
| Lithuania | Gediminas Levickas | -14 |
| United Kingdom | Steve Biagioni | -14 |
| Finland | Matias Lindell | -15 |
| Latvia | Nikolass Bertans | -18 |
| Finland | Jarkko Jylhä | -21 |
| Portugal | Joao Vieira | -22 |
| Norway | Tor Arne Kvia | -25 |
| Norway | Espen Rohde | -28 |
| croatia | Adrian Petricevic | -28 |
| cyprus | George Christoforou | -29 |
| Netherlands | Clint Van Oort | -35 |
| Finland | Teemu Asunmaa | -44 |
| Finland | Lauri Heinonen | -44 |
Overall Country Position Difference (Pos diff -/+) in the 2025 Season
| country | pos diff -/+ | average pos diff -/+ |
|---|---|---|
| Poland | 137 | 22.83333333 |
| Ireland | 77 | 4.8125 |
| Israel | 55 | 55 |
| Estonia | 29 | 14.5 |
| Japan | 14 | 7 |
| czech | 14 | 14 |
| Switzerland | 13 | 13 |
| uae | 10 | 10 |
| France | 6 | 6 |
| Ukraine | 3 | 1.5 |
| turkey | 1 | 1 |
| bulgaria | -5 | -5 |
| serbia | -7 | -7 |
| United States | -8 | -4 |
| Germany | -8 | -8 |
| Sweden | -9 | -9 |
| Hungary | -10 | -10 |
| United Kingdom | -11 | -5.5 |
| Lithuania | -18 | -4.5 |
| Spain | -22 | -7.333333333 |
| croatia | -28 | -28 |
| cyprus | -29 | -29 |
| Portugal | -33 | -16.5 |
| Netherlands | -41 | -20.5 |
| Norway | -44 | -11 |
| Finland | -86 | -6.615384615 |
