RI Road Rally Guide

So here’s The Rough Guide to Road Rallying

There are two types of competitive car rallies. One is a Stage Rally where the event is comprised of several stages on closed roads, against the clock. The fastest crew wins and such an event is the WRC.

The other is a Road Rally, where the competition is about arriving at controls on time, mostly on public roads. Additionally, there will be a few special tests, in which the fastest car usually suffers the least penalty.

This event is a Road Rally and as such, can be an accessible form of motor sport for many people. If you do everything right, you won’t need a fast car. However, if you make a mistake and have to turn around for example, a car with a performance edge will make it easier to get back on track. Well that’s the official response anyhow!

A Road Rally event schedule is broken up into Legs or days. Day one is Leg 1 and so on. The vital route, will either be by diagrams (arrows and distances called Tulips) or by a map upon which, the route has been marked. For this event Andy had to plot the route from series of instructions. After plotting, there were a few (deliberate) gaps.

Later, when we reach these gaps, we will get further printed instructions. When we reach the end of these instructions, we will be back on the marked route.

During a typical Leg there will be Main Time controls (MTC), Time controls (TC), Transit sections, Regularity Starts (RS), Jogularities and Special tests (ST). It is all about, being at these places exactly on time when necessary and knowing when you can be a little late or early. If you are late when you should not be, you will be time penalised. It is these time penalties, upon which. the rally results are based. Get everywhere on time, go the right way, be fastest on the tests and you will win the rally.

Controls are manned by volunteers called marshals, who stamp or chip your rally card, to show you have been there and at what time. Everybody has to arrive at the controls at a different times to avoid chaos, so the running schedule always shows the time for car zero. You have to work out your own time schedule, by adding on your car number to those of car zero. The first thing to do is to set your stopwatch to the exact time of day, exactly in line with the organisers clock. You will see all the crews doing this at the start, as we are all trying to get this right to the second.

Main Time Controls. (MTC)

These are the ones everybody should get right. There is normally a MTC when you start the day, one when you come into lunch. There will also be one when you leave lunch and when you get to the end of the day. So for a typical leg there would be MTC’s 1,2,3 & 4.

If car zero leaves MTC 1 at 9.00 am and we are car 23, we know we must get our card stamped at 9.23 precisely, then get on our way. It is the competitor’s responsibility to get this right if you forget and get it stamped at 9.25 you will get an irrevocable 2-minute penalty that you needn’t have got. So you are already 2 minutes behind everyone else and you haven’t left the car park yet!

One further point: By adding 23 to all the MTC car zero times, we know when we must be at all 4 MTC’s. Generally, we must not miss any MTC’s and never be more that 30 minutes late. That means if you get lost, break down and lose time, you might have to cut some of the route, just to make the MTC on time. Competitors need to read the event regulations, so they know which items to bypass, with the least penalty.

Sometimes you can be early or late penalty-free at the final MTC’s, but the regulations will state this.

Time Controls

These, like the MTC’s are controls that you check into and out of on time. You might have, for example, 5 minutes at these controls and are often a fuel stations for example. Even if you spend 10 minutes there, the navigator must get his card stamped on time, regardless of whether the driver is still filling up the car. Make up any time on the transit section.

Transit Sections.

This is where you will be driving, non-competitively, at normal speeds, to get to the start of something that will test your skills. Such a destination could be a Regularity Start or Special test.

Regularity and Regularity Start (RS)

The simplest form of a Regularity, is a section where you have to drive at a constant speed, until the end. They are often around 10KM long, but can be longer or shorter. Speeds are typically 20-36mph. If you think this is too slow, try maintaining a constant 36mph, up or down a series of tight mountain hairpins. The road might be smooth tarmac or something slightly rougher.

You will have worked out your scheduled time to be at the RS. You do not need to start an RS exactly on time. However, if we don’t keep to the schedule and get later and later, we won’t be able to complete everything and finish at the MTC within our maximum 30 minutes lateness.

During the course for the event you will come to an RS exactly on time, ready to rumble and there will be 6 cars in front of you, setting off at 1 minute intervals. If you wait in your car for your turn you will be at the RS start, 6 minutes late. This isn’t a problem, but it eats into you maximum 30 minutes lateness to be at the MTC. So to avoid this, the navigator must jump out of the car, run up to the marshal and get the time card stamped with the correct, or as near to, time. Then you can wait your turn, safe in the knowledge that after the RS you can get back on time for the next destination, by speeding up a bit. As long as you do not speed up, more that three quarters of the time allowed, you will not be penalised. Well not by the Rally organisers anyhow!

As you approach the start, you will see a yellow board and a red board. Enter the yellow board holding area, one minute before your actual start, which will be level with the red board, just ahead. When you leave the RS start, you must zero one of your odometer displays and start your stopwatch. You cannot drive at a constant speed, just by looking at the speedometer. The constant speed takes no account for give way halts, or stopping to look at the map. The only way you can maintain it, is by comparing your stopwatch time and the distance traveled, to the ideal ones in your Speed Tables. You need to keep on top and make sure you find the right route, or the prescribed 30 mph will soon need to be 50mph, if you let things lapse.

In the simplest form of regularity there will be one control at the start and one at the finish. You will arrive at the finish on time, get no penalty and ‘clean’ the section. But that would be too easy.

You could encounter two types of controls along the way. One will be a marshal or two and a board that looks like a rubber stamp. This is a Passage Control (PC). Stop here and get you card stamped, but leave the stopwatch and odometer alone. As you leave, make up the time you were stationary, by increasing your speed until you are back on track.

The more common type of control you will encounter, is an Intermediate Time Control (ITC). When you arrive here immediately stop and instantaneously restart your stopwatch. Also, zero the odometer display you are using for speed table comparison purposes. When you leave this control the regularity has effectively started afresh.

Sometimes there are speed changes also, but you can find out how to do this elsewhere.

Incidentally, to record the distances, ideally you need an additional accurate odometer. Instead, we use a traditional, mechanically driven Halda. This has two distance displays. We leave the top one running for the overall distance covered, but keep zeroing the lower display, where required.

One further complication. Sometimes, you will have read that the RS start is unmanned. That means, that there won’t be any marshals present and you must start exactly on your due time.

If you are running late and not even at the start yet, start your stopwatch at the due time anyway. Then try to make up the time once you pass the unmanned start – but remember to zero the Halda- as you tear though!

Jogularity

A different form of Regularity is a Jogularity. This is a printed sheet and it tells you all the times and distances that you should be achieving at various landmarks or junctions.

I like the Jogularities, as you can put aside your speed tables and have one less thing to worry about. When you come across a (ITC) control, they will show you a board with the ideal time (and distance) you should have taken. When you see this, quickly note your stopwatch reading when you get there. You must not make up time on a Jogularity, so if you are 10 seconds late, add 10 seconds to all the ideal times on the sheet and continue to that revised schedule.

It should go without saying, that controls will not be visible in advance, not in place you might expect and often after a tricky turn. An experienced driver might speed up if his navigator suggests there’s a tricky turning up ahead.

Special Tests

These are on closed grounds or roads. They are tests for the driver and the idea is to get the fastest time, without going the wrong way. The navigator will have a map to follow and there may be obstacles like cones, haystacks, concrete posts to negotiate and the route might be complicated.

At the finish you may need to stop astride a line, between cones. The penalties for a wrong test (WT) are sometimes hefty, so read up on the regs, as there may be something hidden here.

Conclusion

Road rallying is a perfect way to exploit your own and your cars ultimate potential. It should combine intense, competitive, but friendly rivalry with post event camaraderie. Whether you drive or navigate, you will find yourself in a new environment, with new challenges and achievements there for the taking.

It’s the only sport I know that you can finish last and still both have a fantastic time. Well apart from that...

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