This is just a page for all you new rally fans who have just stumbled across this blog and are rather confused with some of the more techinical terms, it is a rather complicated sport so here’s a guide of what’s involved and what it all means.
Car: You can’t really do a rally without one of these.
Dampers: An essential part of a rally car’s suspension. Each car has four – one connected to each wheel hub, designed to absorb bumps from the road and keep the tyre in contact with the surface as often as possible.
Damper settings: Rally car dampers are adjustable so they provide different characteristics. At the simplest level they can be soft or hard, but other settings like the amount of rebound or ride height can also be altered. Drivers often adjust their damper settings between stages by turning adjustment wheels on the units. The degree of change is usually measured in ‘clicks’ of the adjuster.
Drive shaft: The part of the transmission system which transfers drive from the front or rear differential to the wheel. Each rally car has four.
FIA: The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, the Geneva-based governing body for world-wide motor sport which regulates and controls the World Rally Championship.
Flying finish: The end of a stage where the timing stops.
Gravel settings: The choice of tyres and suspension adjustments to give a WRC car maximum performance on a loose surfaced stage.
HANS device: HANS stands for head and neck support. Worn on the shoulders and around the back of the neck, in the event of an accident, the HANS device reduces the amount the head can move can help protect a driver’s head and neck from serious injury.
ISC: Part of North One Television, International Sportsworld Communicators is the London based organisation which owns the commercial rights to the WRC.
Intercom: The audio link that enables the driver to hear the co-driver’s instructions above the noise of the engine. Intercom headphones and a microphone are built into the safety helmet.
J-WRC: Junior World Rally Championship. Like the P-WRC, a support championship for the World Rally
Current J-WRC world champ, Sebastien Ogier
Championship. The J-WRC is for front-wheel drive 1600cc hatchbacks. J-WRC drivers must be born on or after 1st January 1980 – so they cannot be older than 28 at the start of the Championship year to compete. Eight rallies of the WRC calendar count towards the J-WRC. Participation in six of the eight events is mandatory, with J-WRC entrants nominating their six events before the start of the season.
Launch control: This helps the driver to make the fastest getaway from a standing start. The system has a device that prevents the engine stalling.
Leg: A day’s rallying. In the WRC, the competition begins on Friday and ends on Sunday. Each day (or LEG) hosts about six stages.
P-WRC: The FIA Production car World Rally Championship (P-WRC) is the showcase support championship to the WRC. Cars are built to the FIA’s Group N or Super 2000 regulations and have less technical freedom than WRC cars. Eight rallies of the WRC calendar count towards the P-WRC. Participation in six of the eight events is mandatory, with P-WRC entrants nominating their six events before the start of the season.
Pace notes: A description of the road ahead, called out by the co-driver to inform the driver of what is coming up. Pace notes for every rally are made during the pre-event reconnaissance. As they recce each stage, drivers describe the road to their co-drivers, who write down the information in a form of shorthand. During the rally the co-driver reads the notes back to the driver.
Parc ferme: The secure area where all competing rally cars are kept overnight after a hard day of competition.
Recce car: A fairly standard road going car which the driver and co-driver use to drive the route before the rally starts and prepare pace notes.
Recce: Before every rally, drivers and co-drivers spend two days driving the route at a maximum speed (set by rally organisers) of between 50 and 70kph. Crews are allowed two passes through each stage to familiarise themselves with the route and make pace notes, this usually happens on a Tuesday and Wednesday before the event.
Road: Rally stages can be actual public roads; they can be tarmac or gravel and can covered in rocks the size of footballs, ball-bearing stones or ice and snow. These roads often contain water splashes, jumps and crests and can be in the middle of forests, in mountains or in small towns.
Road book: A set of instructions and route maps issued to each crew by rally organisers, members of the media are also given an adapted version of a road book.
Road section: A public road which links the special stages, service points and parc ferme. Drivers must obey all applicable traffic laws on road sections.
- Rally trivia -World champ Sebastien Loeb has had numerous run ins with the police for breaking the speed limit and driving without a wheel, see videos below, quite amusing to see even the best in the world aren’t immune to the justice system.
Roll cage: A structure of high carbon steel tubes welded inside the passenger compartment designed to keep the driver and co-driver safe in an impact or roll.
Running order: The order in which competitors tackle the stages. The running order (also called the start order) is different for each day of the rally. The order for the opening day is determined by the drivers’ championship standings – with the leader going first. For days two and three, entrants tackle the stages in rally leading order – with the leader going first.
Scrutineers: Technical officials who check the legality of WRC cars before, during and after the event.
Sequential gearbox: An arrangement in which the gear lever or paddle selects each gear in turn (1-2-3-4-5-6) when changing up and vice-versa when changing down. Most WRC gearboxes are semi-automatic and have an electro-hydraulic control mechanism which manages the throttle, clutch and gear change.
- Arial shot, Wales Rally GB Service park 2007 picture courtesy of www.walesrallygb.com
Service Park: Designated area where checks, maintenance and running repairs can be made to WRC cars, subject to strict time limits. Service parks are very exciting places, there’s always something going on.
Shakedown: The opportunity for crews to check their competition cars, on terrain similar to the rally, just before the event starts.
Snow bank: Seen lining the stages of winter snow rallies. Drivers often lean the back of their car into a snow bank to help guide them round a corner at maximum speed. Leaning too far however can cause the driver to become ditched in the snow.
- Snow banks galore!
Stages:
The competitive sections of the rally, also called special stages, where drivers and co-drivers drive as fast as they can to achieve the shortest time.
Stage time: The time recorded from the standing start of a stage to the flying finish.
Stop control: A point 200-500 metres past the flying finish where the car must stop to have its time recorded.
Studs: Metal spikes fitted to the treads of winter tyres to give grip on snow and ice.
- Studs, studs and more studs on very narrow tyres to give extra grip in very harsh conditions
Sump guard: A reinforced panel under the car’s engine bay to protect the engine’s sump (the oil reservoir) and transmission.
Super Special stage: A stage – often set up in a sports stadium – with two parallel tracks that enable a pair of rally drivers to race each other.
Target time: The official time allowed by rally organisers for a WRC car to complete a non-competitive road section. Time penalties are applied if competitors check-in earlier or later than the target time.
Time card: Carried by the co-driver, the time card is a record of stage times and time control arrival times throughout the rally. The card is stamped by event officials as the rally progresses and provides proof of a competitor’s whereabouts in case of a dispute.
Time control: The place where cars must stop to get an official passing time recorded by rally officials
Zero car: A course car driven through a stage before the competitors start it to alert spectators that the section is live.
Some terms courtesy of wrc.com
