Simple System

I have been competing on notes for several years having a number of different co-drivers along the way and while I have developed my notes considerably, I have always tried to keep them simple.

When starting out crews should try to spend some time sitting down with each other and talking about what sort of system they think they would like to use.

Here are some points you need to discuss.

Speed (is your distance)

Everybody see's a given distance differently. One may say 'that looks like 50 meters' the other may look at it and think 'nah that is more like 100 meters'

But when it is measured they both may be wrong.

This is unimportant - what is important is HOW THE DRIVER PERCEIVES it. How it looks to him!

Because he should be visualizing how fast he thinks he will be travelling in the RALLY CAR and this should influence what decisions he will need to make in regard to how he see's the distance in front of him.

Calls (how to describe what the driver sees)

The driver needs to have a clear idea in his own mind what calls he wants to use for the distances.

For short distances I use "and" and "into". Some drivers use "and" as a shorter distance than "into" because it is a shorter word, others use "and" as a longer distance than "into" which makes more sense if you consider the meaning of the word.

For all other distances I use what I perceive to be a specific distance in meters, but I usually do not bother using more than a few numbers.

For instance mainly I use - 50m - 100m - 150m - 200m if there is a straight longer than 200m I will always find some point I can pick something that stands out (tree stump) or some such thing and get the next distance from there.

If however you find that you have a extremely long straight, like say 600 meters, then if the co-driver can highlight it in his notes, he can actually call it down to the driver. As one would do in a route chart event.

The role of the Co-Driver

The co-driver must learn how the driver judges the distances no matter what he thinks it should be! If this means that they have to get used to an entirely different perspective then that is what they have to do!

This will mean that when a co-driver goes from one driver to another he will have to adapt to the new drivers system NOT the other way around. A good co-driver will be able to do this

I have often felt that getting the distances right is one of the hardest things in pace noting. Trying to imagine the rally car speed while you are doing recce is so important as it determines how you describe each situation.

A question I often get asked is do you actually have to measure all your distances between calls?

In my experience NO you don't have to, but it does not hurt to use a trip for the first few pace note events as this helps you to get some consistency in your distances.

Especially if you have not done many rallies of any kind!

I feel that it is best to understate the distance rather than overstate it. If you are measuring with a trip then if it is 150m I would as a rule bring it back a fair way maybe to 100m depending on the SPEED at which I imagine I would be approaching.

I know that some of the top crews cut the hell out of the actual measured distance. Like 150m may be called as 50m this is all due to how they perceive the situation and the SPEED that they think they will be doing.

Once again YOU must do things the way that it feels comfortable for you as a driver.

The main thing being that you THINK about what your SYSTEM is going to consist of, then be consistant in using it!

Once you have done a couple of events, you will soon find out the things that are not working and make some changes.

Try not to change too many things at once, it will only lead to confusion.

The co-driver can only pronounce so many syllables in so much time, so the less he/she has to say the better their timing will be.

Pace notes or Safety Notes?

The first thing to remember is that you are not writing

Pace Notes... these days you are writing Safety Notes!!

In today's events you are lucky to get two runs over each stage in order to write your notes, this makes it very difficult to get them right from the start.

It is not so hard for those who do a lot of events, but even then you often hear the WRC drivers make comments about how they have 'not done this event before, so their notes are not as good as they would like.

It makes a huge difference when you have done an event competitivly more than once. It gives the co-driver the opportunity to correct his notes and of course the driver gets more familiar with the stages.

Which System?

Now which is the best system of pacenotes?

There is no best system it is very much personal preference.

If you are totally unsure of which system to use, then use the numbers system most people find it easier to learn

I use the number system 1 to 6, breaking up the degree of the corner by adding a plus or minus to it seems to give quite enough variation for calls.

The one to six number system is based on a clock face.

You are coming from 12 o'clock - So this means that 3 o'clock is a 90deg corner with the other numbers giving you the different degrees of corners.

These can then be broken up by using plus and minus.

So you may have a call which looks like this (TL 3 +) (Turn Left 3 plus) A 'Three' normally being a 90deg corner is made less severe by the addition of the + sign or more severe buy the addition of the - minus sign.

I use the plus and minus in context.

One is the tightest turn and six is almost straight.

This seems to be the least complicated system as far as numbers are concerned.

Some people use one to ten but I prefer less numbers with more graduations.

Descriptive System

Some like to use the descriptive system. Using words like 'Fast' 'Medium' 'Slow' 'Sharp' to describe bends, in fact you can use ANY word that you like to describe what you see, believe me there are some interesting ones used in some pace notes...lol

So the same call as above could look something like this on paper depending how the co-driver shortens his words. (TL,shp) (Turn Left Sharp) then they would add other symbols to tell them if the bend opens or tightens etc.

While the shorthand the co-driver uses during NOTE WRITING is important, my view is that the MOST important thing is to do with how 'hard' or 'easy' it is to actually speak the words during the rally.

Of course everybody sees things differently. Each driver must write their notes the way that THEY feel comfortable with. It really is a matter of choice but keeping it simple is the key.

Some drivers prefer the number first like (6 right) instead of (Right 6).

But once again in all these instances, there is no correct way. Although all drivers believe that their system of notes is the best and can't understand how anybody survives on any other system!

The same principles apply regardless of the system you use so long as it means the right thing to YOU that is all that matters.

To me a double caution means slow down!!

I do not feel that it is always necessary to explain why except in rare cases. It is far easier for the co-driver to only have to say "double caution" than a huge description of why there is a caution.

It takes a long time to learn how to make good pace notes. Practice on roads near your home, every time you go somewhere call the road out to yourself, without losing concentration on the traffic of course!

Some helpful techniques

Some people like to mark their steering wheel by using a piece of tape wrapped around the top center of the wheel.

Then they mark their dashboard at different positions to indicate the degree of the corner they are negotiating.

So that as, they are negotiating a bend, when the steering wheel gets to say the 90deg mark you know to call the corner a right or left 3 if you are using the 1 to 6 number system, or a 90 right for descriptive etc.

This will all depend on the recce car you are using, you need to ascertain how far the wheel will turn to achieve this degree of corner for each car.

Because this varies so much and the steering is often very different to the rally car, this system may not always work.

My Method

What I try to do is have my hands on the wheel at the ten to two position and when going around a corner if I do not have to move them I know that the degree of corner is less than 90 so it may be a four or five.

If on the other hand you have to move your hands on the wheel to negotiate the bend then it is obviously tighter so may therefore be a three etc.

You soon get used to what call will suit. You can still put some tape around the steering wheel it all helps.

This is a simple system and providing you keep BOTH your hands on the wheel works very well. Once you get used to it everything becomes automatic.

It also saves a lot of ginning around prepareing the recce car beforehand when time is often short particularly if you are competing away from home on a tight time frame.

Some hire cars being very basic little front wheel drive cars have too much lock to make it practical for the tape method.

Another thing that is helpful in determining if you have to slow down for something, is, if you go at a steady pace (remember RHYTHM) and find that you are braking for something in the recce car then yes you will have to slow down in the rally car as well.

What I am trying to say here is that while you may only be travelling at 40-60kmh in the recce car if the situation requires you to slow at this pace then surely you will have to slow at the pace you will be going in the rally car!

If you keep this fact in mind then it makes it much easier to put in your cautions and cares

This works well for roads that twist and turn but for long straitish pieces of road where during recce you cannot do the high speeds you will be doing in the rally, you need to be very observant so as to avoid missing out on a tricky bits you don't slow for in the recce but will need to slow for in the rally car.

You will notice that I talk a lot about slowing down!

My reasons for this is that if your notes don't tell you to slow down then you should be going as fast as your car can go. Therefore the slowing down calls are extremely important!