Why do we have a seeding system?
Driver seeding lists are a tool to assist organisers to seed their events. Events are seeded for safety reasons only. Seeding should not be a contest, nor should it ever be a point of contention. It’s to stop, as far as possible, cars catching each other in the stages.
Organisers are not obliged to accept the seeding order from this list. They may take into account other factors as well. Event seeding always remains at the discretion of the event organiser.
The NSW Rally Panel also uses the Rally Seeding List to determine eligibility for certain series such as the S1 Rallysprint Series. Eligibility to be awarded series points in the Clubman Rally Series is based on the driver seeding at the beginning of the calendar year so that list is provided below in addition to the current seeding list. See the 2022 Competition Conditions for the eligibility for these series.
Simple in principle but how is the seeding calculated?
The mathematical process by which the seeding co-efficient, also known as the “Driver Performance Index” (DPI), is calculated as per below:
- It starts with establishing a “Stage Performance Index” (SPI) for all competitors for all competitive stages in NSW Rally events. The SPI is calculated by dividing the fastest competitive stage time by the stage time of the driver for whom you are calculating the SPI. This will result in a value of less than 1, except that the SPI for the driver who recorded the fastest stage time will be 1. A driver who takes twice as long to complete a stage as did the driver who recorded the fastest stage time will have a SPI of .5000.
- From the SPIs an “Event Performance Index” (EPI) is calculated. The EPI for a particular competitor is the average of his/her SPIs in that event. However where a particular SPI varies greatly from the other SPIs for that driver (e.g. due to a puncture, stopped with mechanical issue, caught behind a slower car, stage not completed etc) that SPI is discarded from the calculation. By discarding these SPIs, the likelihood of an unrepresentative time being used gives a truer indication of a driver’s typical speed.
- An EPI will only be calculated from an event when a competitor has completed a minimum of three (3) competitive stages. Again, this ensures as far as is possible that only representative data is used as a basis for determining seeding positions.
- From the EPIs, is calculated the Driver Performance Index (DPI) or Seeding Rank, which is the average of the best three (3) of the last four (4) EPIs.
- For stand alone CRS events a seeding is weighted based of the seeding of the winner of the event.
It is the Rally Panel’s intention that Event Performance Indices will be valid for two years. This ensures that drivers are seeded on the basis of their current form against current competitors and not on the basis of their performance five or more years ago against drivers no longer competing.
It is also not necessary for a driver to be a finisher in an event in order to get an Event Performance Index. So long as he or she has completed three (3) competitive stages throughout the event, an EPI will be calculated. Seeding is based on ability to drive fast, stage by stage, not where you finish on an event or whether you actually finish.