What It Takes To Win: 2025 Red Bull Drift Masters Championship
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Who's Still In It?
After an exciting Qualifying and Qualifying Showdown Bracket (watch it here) where James Deane would win the Showdown, we now have the final points for everyone going into the Grand Finale on Saturday. We're left with 2 drivers mathematically in the chase for the 2025 Red Bull Drift Masters Championship.
1. |
Conor Shanahan |
390 pts |
2. |
Piotr Więcek |
390 pts |
Both drivers in the chase are on the top right side of the bracket! So if both Shanahan and Więcek can win their first two battles, they could meet up for the championship battle in the Great 8.
Jack Shanahan is currently in third place with 303 points. However, since drivers can earn points even with a loss in the Top 32. Jack's maximum points with a win = 403 points (100 + 303). Conor/Piotr’s worst possible finish (Top 32 exit) earns them 406 points (16 + 390). Even their minimum beats Jack’s maximum. The good news for Jack is that he still has a chance to take second place if he can hold off 3-time Champion James Deane (258 points; 2018-2020), Kevin Pesur (257 points), Pawel Korpulinski (239 points), 2024 Champion Lauri Heinonen (223 points), and Tor Arne Kvia (213 points).
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What Each Driver Needs to Win Outright
Bottom line: Shanahan or Więcek simply need to finish one round higher than the other. They can potentially battle for the Championship in the Great 8, which we think would be the most exciting way to finish the season.
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If / Then Scenarios
Here's our breakdown of the if / then scenarios that can take place.
- If both drivers lose in Top 32 or in Top 16, then they both exit with the same amount of points, either 406 or 422 points respectively. The Championship would then be decided by a tie-breaker. Per the Drift Masters rulebook, "a higher place is awarded to a competitor who was awarded a bigger number of higher places in particular rounds gets better place. If a tie still occurs in the points standings- the tie breaker will be the finish rank of the most recent round." In this scenario we believe Shanahan would get the Championship (we didn't take the time to pull each bracket from this season to calculate actual finishing position and did a quick guess based off points per round, which could be flawed based on Qualifying and Qualifying Showdown points).
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Conor Shanahan
- If Shanahan goes out in Top 32, he would finish with 406 points. Then Więcek would then clinch the Championship if he wins his Top 32 battle (422 points).
- If Shanahan goes out in Top 16, he would finish with 422 points. Then Więcek would then clinch the Championship if he wins his Top 16 battle (438 points).
- If Shanahan goes out in the Great 8, he would finish with 438 points. Then Więcek would then clinch the Championship if he wins his Great 8 battle (≥454 points).
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Piotr Więcek
- NOTE: These scenarios are the exact same as above, just the names change.
- If Więcek goes out in Top 32, he would finish with 406 points. Then Shanahan would then clinch the Championship if he wins his Top 32 battle (422 points).
- If Więcek goes out in Top 16, he would finish with 422 points. Then Shanahan would then clinch the Championship if he wins his Top 16 battle (438 points).
- If Więcek goes out in the Great 8, he would finish with 438 points. Then Shanahan would then clinch the Championship if he wins his Great 8 battle (≥454 points).
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Watch Live
You can watch all of this unfold live on Red Bull TV Saturday, September 13 at 8:45AM EST:
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