Rally School 2012

General Info• Run on open public roads in sections 2-10+ miles long

• Sections timed to the minute and the target is an 30mph average speed

• Competitors are given clues at the start of each section which they must solve in order to find the correct route

• Route checks along the way are code boards

General Info• The score is kept in terms of penalty points

• Being fastest on the road is not the way to win a road rally

• Missing a code board or passage control is penalised heavily compared with arriving early or late, so getting the route correct is vital

Navigator• Never lose your place on the map

• Give instructions and directions to the driver

• Keep track of time and communicate with driver about what is an appropriate speed– remember to set watch to rally time at signing on!

• Looks after paperwork - write down codeboards, make sure marshal has written the correct time in the correct box

• Main person responsible for solving clues

Navigator - Equipment• Map(s)

– correct edition as noted in regs

• Pencils – fairly dark (3B/4B) so they are easy to see

• Cardboard board– to lean on when drawing on map

• Clipboard – leaning on and keeping paperwork together

• Rubber

• Roamer– accurate reference plotting, good idea to have

this on a piece of string so you don't lose it at a key moment

• Digital watch– set to rally time

• Light and magnifier – Torch or headtorch

• Travel sickness pills...

• Extra– ruler– tracing paper– calculator– pencil sharpener– protractor - some higher level clues may use

angle or bearings

Driver• Should be comfortable with the car

• Either extend own insurance or take insurance offered through event organisers

• Check car will pass scrutineering

• Drive within their own abilities

• Support and help navigator where appropriate

• Watch for code boards and tell nav when you see them

Car Preparation

• Able to pass an MOT

Car Preparation• Scrutineering usually takes about 5 minutes, it is a check to aid safety, not trying

to catch you out– tyres should be in good condition with legal tread– lights working - dipped, main, fog, indicators, brakes– not excessively noisy– seats secure with working seatbelts– brakes working, including handbrake– battery secure and positive terminal insulated, no dodgy wiring– no significant fluid leaks - coolant, oil, brake fluid or fuel– remove or strap down lose objects that could move around and potentially cause injury– warning triangle in case of breakdown or accident– tax up to date

• Remember to make sure you have sufficient fuel!

Driving Technique"to finish first, first you must finish"

• The amount of time and penalties you might save by going a little faster is small compared to the amount of penalties you incur by missing a single code board, or the time it takes to be recovered from a ditch!

• Drive at a moderate/normal speed and concentrate as a crew on getting the navigation right and spotting all the code boards

Driving Technique• Reading of the road by the nav can be useful to give the driver an

idea of the corners ahead, however it is difficult to see every corner on the map and they are often quite inaccurate due to the small scale.

• Obey the rules of the road at all times and drive sensibly

• Remember at all times you are competing on open, public roads so around any corner there may be another competitor, a tractor, walkers etc, coming in either direction.

• If there is a faster competitive car behind you – let it past!

Driving Technique• Due to trying to maintain an average speed on twisty roads there is

often repeated acceleration and braking so be aware that brake performance can fall over time as they heat up.

• Treat all give way junctions as stops - complete stop at the junction, failure to do so can result in heavy penalties if spotted by a marshal

• 'Quiet zones' are areas where competitors must make the minimum amount of noise in order to not disturb local residents. – Speeds less than 30mph in a high gear with dipped lights is required– Failure to do so can result in exclusion.

• It is essential to be courteous to people who live near the rally route so that events can be held in the future.

Map• Ordnance Survey Landranger series, scale 1:50,000

• Map(s) used specified in regs– make sure you have the appropriate edition as some clues will not work with the wrong

edition.

• Highlight important features– every tenth grid line– spot heights– churches– maybe milestones and mile posts

• Crease the edges so you can fold the map back on itself

• The key on the right hand side defines all map features

Map References• Plotted with a roamer

• Should be split to be plotted– eg 458764 -> 458 764

• Four figure - entire 1km grid square

• Six figure - point within the square

• Eight figure - very exact references, extra digits will only be 0 or 5 (or ½)

Map References

• 815614 -> 815 614

General Route Solving - Process• Check the clue you have been given is the right one for your class (it should say at the

top of the paper)

• Plot next control so you have somewhere to aim for (higher levels may not be given this). This also helps to make sure you end up in the right place as you solve the clue.

• Calculate the time you need to be at the next control

• Check whether it is CRO (coloured roads only), AR (all roads) or IGR (ignore gated roads)

• You can either plot stationary or moving, I would recommend stationary to begin with

• Keep the mileage for the section in mind as you plot

• Don't forget the driver can also help with clue solving

General Route Solving - Process• Plot the clue as a continuous line close to the left of the road. Do not draw on the road itself as you

will obscure it and make it more difficult to see features as you follow the route.

• Once you have plotted the clue, tell the driver to move off and start giving directions

• Keep your place on the map at all times, and tell your driver if you are unsure so they can slow down or stop to prevent you getting too far from the route.

• Keep an eye on the time and adjust speed as necessary to arrive at the control at the correct minute

• Don't forget to look for code boards - this should be mainly the drivers job as they are looking out at the road rather than down at the map. Make sure you write the code in the correct place on the time card

• When you have arrived at the control hand over your time card to the marshal and say what time you are after. Make sure they write the correct time in the correct box

General Route Solving - ProcessTC2

TC3

General Route Solving

• NAM Triangles

Abbreviations• AR = all roads• B = brown• BK = black• BL = blue• CRO = coloured roads only

(blue/red/brown/yellow)• ETL = electricity transmission line• FL = fork left• FR = fork right• GL = grid line• GS = grid square• IGR = ignore gated roads• km = kilometres• m = metres

• MR = map reference• NAM = not as map• PC = passage control• SH = spot height• SO = straight on• SR = side road• TC = time control• TJ = T-junction• TL = turn left• TR = turn right• W = white• XR = crossroads• Y = yellow

Clue type: Map References

• Plot references accurately

• Pass through or avoid as directed by the clue

• At novice levels they will be given in order, may not be in order at higher levels

• Always take the shortest possible route

Clue type: Map Features• Spot heights give height at the point

• Can use any features on the map such a bridges, churches, ETL etc. The map key will show what symbols are used.

• Over and under – these normally refer to a bridge, although the bridge symbol may not be shown in the clue

• Other features may also be on the road– writing such as place names

• Pass the features using the shortest route

• Also get spot height totals - normally higher level clues

Clue type: Grid Lines or Squares

• Pass through grid squares or cross over grid lines

• Be aware of the difference between touching and crossing

• You may get two options and have to look ahead to work out which to use

Touching vs Crossing

• Definition of a road crossing or touching a grid line, electricity transmission line etc:

• A road that touches a line, as defined above, is deemed to cross it TWICE

Clue type: Coloured Junctions• Each block denotes a junction eg YBBY

• Enter a junction on the first colour

• Ignore the middle colour(s)

• Leave on the last colour

• May have to look ahead to eliminate options

• Look for crossroads (4 letters)

YBBY

Clue type: Directions and Clock Face

• Junction direction– leave junction in given direction– keep in mind whether you are including white

roads and/or gated roads– eg. SRTR = side road turn right

Clue type: Directions and Clock Face

• Compass directions– may mean leave grid square in given directions

(will say in clue at novice level)– eg. NW = leave the junction on the road heading

north-west

Clue type: Directions and Clock Face

• Clock face– enter junction on the hour, leave on the minute– eg. 11:10

Clue type: Tulips• Each tulip represents a junction

• Enter on the ball, leave on the arrow

• Can be seen as on map or always pointing up

• At higher levels there may be no ball and/or no arrow

Clue type: Herringbone

• Route as a straight line, with short lines showing what roads are missed

(CRO)

Clue type: Codes

• Clues may use a code– eg. A = 1, then used to write junction direction (24

18 19 15 for XRSO) or to write grid lines (BD FB for 24 62)

– eg. a codeword that is 10 letters long with the letters representing the numbers 0-9

More Advanced...

• There are variations on the clues at harder levels. It is best to get out and get as much experience with different clues as possible.

Time Cards

• It should show control locations and section times

• Usually space for you to use to work out your due time

• Code boards should be recorded on your time card

• A marshal will sign the card at each control

Time Cards

At a Time Control• Enter control from the right direction - penalties for wrong direction

• You can ask for either the minute on the clock or the next minute - recommend entering on your minute to avoid any confusion

• If you are early, wait before the board

• If you are late, ask the marshal for your minute or 'earliest please'

• Be polite, the marshal's word is final

Timekeeping

• Always be aware of what time you need to arrive at the next control and try to have an idea whether you are on time, late or early.

• Timing is done in whole minutes, so both 22:45:01 and 22:45:58 are considered as 22:45

• If you end up running late, aim to stay running the same amount late rather than racing to catch up. Basically, keep to the time for the section, not overall.

Timekeeping• Rally time = all marshals and competitors watches should be

synchronised to an agreed time which will be on display at signing on

• Lateness = how far you are behind your scheduled time. If you keep arriving late at controls you will increase your lateness.

• OTL = outside total lateness, gives the limit of how much lateness you are allowed to accumulate. Limit is usually 30 minutes. If you book into a time control OTL then it doesn't count, as if you never visited it at all– if you are running late and the next two time controls are close to each other

than you could miss a time control and so be on time for one of them. However you risk missing all codeboards and arriving at the control from the wrong direction. These both give heavy penalties.

Penalties• Arriving later than due time at a TC = 1 per minute

• Booking in before scheduled time = 2 per minute

• Missing a code board = 15

• Arriving at a TC in the wrong direction = 15

• Failing to visit a TC = 30

• Minor infringement eg failing to stop at a give way = 30

• Major infringement eg speeding = exclusion

• To count as having finished the rally, you have to visit a certain number of time controls, normally around two thirds (eg. 6 out of 9 TCs). There are certain controls which you must visit, normally the start, finish and any point at which time cards are collected such as a regroup.

Licences

• Everyone in the car needs to be a member of a MSA club - such as EUMSC!

• To compete in a 12-car rally you do not need a licence. The Training Rally will be a 12-car and most events have a 12-car class.

• To compete in non 12-car a licence is needed as necessary for the class

Navigational Scatters• There are a number of control points at various locations on the map

• Visiting each one is worth a varying amount of points depending on how hard they are to find

• You receive a sheet of navigational information for the control points at the start - map references or clues, which may require information you obtain by visiting another control point first– eg. if the board at the last control was yellow follow instructions A, if it was white follow

instruction B

• There is no obvious way to visit all controls but you must decide how much time to allow for plotting before heading out and plan a route to maximise your score.

• Most control points are not manned and require you to note down a detail off a road sign or house name

Regs and Final Instructions• These will give you key info about the event so read carefully!

– map needed– start and finish venue– scrutineering times (start and finish)– signing on time deadline– time that the first car starts– list of abbreviations– entry list, and your car number– quiet zones– phone numbers for the organisers - make sure you have a note of

these whilst competing so you can contact someone in the case of an incident

At the Event• Fill out an entry form and give to organisers along with entry fee (sort out between the crew

how this is split)

• Organise with your driver/nav where to meet and arrive in plenty of time

• Scrutineer and sign on when you arrive at the start venue

• Get your car number and display it where directed

• Make sure you know your start time, and where the start control is

• Get your map and paperwork ready – plot start control– Start and finish control can be plotted before the event as they are given in the regs

• Remember: if you are ever unsure of where you’re meant to be or what you’re meant to be doing just ask, there will be plenty of people who are happy to help!