TYPES OF RALLY

The Gimmick Rally: Most rallyists discovered the fun of rallying by participating in a rally which is really an automotive scavenger hunt. Typically, the organizer of the event (the Rallymaster) has defined a route to follow, and will have identified features along the way which form the basis of questions to be answered by the rallyists. Depending upon exactly how the rallymaster defines the route and the questions, the game of a gimmick rally can be in the route following and/or the questions. If time is at all involved, it will usually just be a maximum time allowed to complete the route. Scoring can be on the basis of the number of right answers to the questions, closeness to the actual route mileage, or any other "gimmick" introduced by the rallymaster. These kind of rallies are easy to organize, very informal, and generally suitable for people who are not even automobile enthusiasts. This is a good type of rally to organize as a fund raiser for your favorite charity!

The Time-Speed-Distance (TSD) Rally: The English call this general concept by the name "regularity trial," which is somewhat closer to a description of what TSD rallying is all about. In very general terms, the rallymaster will give competitors a route, and specify average speeds to be maintained over portions of this route. The object of the TSD rally is to complete the route at exactly the specified speed; scoring is usually in seconds or hundredths of a minute deviation from an ideal arrival time calculated from the average speeds given by the rallymaster. A defining feature of the TSD rally is the Checkpoint. A checkpoint is where workers associated with the rally take note of competitors' arrival times. The exact location of checkpoints may or may not be known to competitors, and competitors may or may not be required to stop at checkpoints. Checkpoints where competitors must stop define the start and end of each leg of the rally. A TSD rally can be made to be very simple or exceptionally difficult, depending upon the route, the speeds, how frequently and where the speeds change, and how often and where they are checked. The easiest TSD rally has route directions that are very easy to follow, is at moderate speeds, over good roads, connecting a handful of checkpoints, connected by sections of the rally with only one average speed over each leg. Very difficult TSD rallies have tricky instructions, many checkpoints (frequently hidden) at strategic points along the route, and frequent speed changes. Roads, checkpoints and speed changes are chosen to add to the difficulty in maintaining the correct average speed. It is generally true that the more difficult the TSD rally, the more workers will be required, the more specialized timing and distance measuring equipment the rallyists will need, and the more difficult and error-prone the scoring will be.

The Stage Rally: Stage rallying is best known in the United States as European rallying, or by the SCCA's Performance Rally (formerly ProRally) series. In this form of rallying, specially prepared, but street-legal, cars are used to race against the clock over roads closed to the public. These sections of closed-road racing are called stages, and a complete rally consists of a number of stages linked by non-racing transits over open roads. This type of rallying requires a massive organizational effort, obviously very specialized car preparations, and advanced driving skills. This type of rallying will not be further discussed in this article. Further information can be found on the Internet by searching on ProRally, WRC, Performance Rallying, etc…

WHAT KIND OF RALLY DO YOU WANT TO HAVE?

As will be evident from the previous section, increasing complexity of the rally adds to the complexity of organization. It also inevitably adds to the specialization of knowledge and equipment required by competitors. Therefore, a good concept to remember is that the more complex the rally, the smaller the audience to which it will appeal.

A good starting point when considering how to design a rally is to first consider the basic premise of the rally; where on the social event competitive event scale should it balance? In the very early days of rallying, the entire point of the rally was to see if the car could actually make the distance. Automobiles quickly moved beyond that, and the sport of rallying divided. Certainly there were highly competitive events, such as the Trials in England, but many sports car clubs held TSD-type events that were largely events for socialization among the enthusiasts.

An event which is going to have a large social element must first of all have a broad base of appeal. This, then, limits the complexity of the planned event. Furthermore, the rallymaster must allow for plenty of time in suitable environs for the socialization to occur. Where lodging is involved, it should be in an interesting location conducive to the competitors mingling and socializing. Time must be allowed in the schedule of events for people to gather and talk about their cars, themselves, and the rally. In laying out this type of rally, the rallymaster should assume the competitors will be novices to the sport. If the event is to be a gimmick rally, the instructions handed out at the start should be self-explanatory. If it is to be a TSD event, the rallymaster should plan on sending out the rules and regulations well in advance of the event, and consider having a "rally school" at the event to review TSD concepts before the rally actually starts.

The larger the competitive element desired, the more complex the event will be. This will limit the audience for the event, and make the organization of the event more difficult, since more workers will be needed. The trade-off, though, is that hard-core competitors will likely be less critical of lodging and food arrangements (although any rallyist appreciates good food and drink), and more likely to find their own time for any desired bench-racing in a busy schedule of events.

In the context of the Quattro Club USA, since rallying has not been part of the club's heritage, it is probably best for the contemplative rallymaster to consider gimmick rallies or easy TSD rallies at this point. More difficult TSD rallies and stage events will have very limited appeal to the club's membership, especially since other well-established venues exist for enthusiasts seriously interested in these types of rallies.

ORGANIZING YOUR RALLY I: The Gimmick Rally

With its absolute lack of demands on automotive sophistication and rally-savvy, the gimmick rally is a natural for an afternoon club event. This type of event works best if limited to just a few hours, and concluding at a favorite local restaurant or watering hole. While typically each competitor car will have two people, this type of rally also works well as a family outing or for two couples to ride together as one "competitor." This aspect of the gimmick rally only adds to its appeal as a great socializer.

There are probably more variations on the gimmick rally theme than any one person will ever know. The most common way to set up a gimmick rally is to look at a map, choose a route, go drive it with a friend, and pick questions en route for the competitors to answer. Type up the route instructions just as if a stranger were to be asked to follow the route. Type up a sheet with the questions on it. Make copies, send out invitations, and wait for the Big Day. When it arrives, distribute the route instructions and questions to the competitors, say a few words of pandering advise, and set them off; now go wait at the finish. As they arrive, collect the answer sheets and do the scoring. The competitor with the most correct answers wins.

Some interesting variations include putting the questions in random order, or playing games with how the route is described; for example, rather than writing out instructions, one could merely draw diagrams of each intersection encountered, with an indication of how that intersection should be exited. Photographs can be used in either the questions or for the route description (or both!). At least one gimmick rally has been written with no route instructions, rather a set of default rules (for example, "turn right on all even numbered roads not evenly divisible by 3") to be applied at each intersection encountered. From these default rules, competitors were to figure out which way to go at each intersection. In a "Hare and Hound" type gimmick rally, written instructions (and questions, usually) are dispensed with altogether. One competitor team is chosen as the Hare, and leaves about twenty minutes before everybody else. The Hare is given a bag of flour or can of road marking spray paint, and set off and told to drive a route of about ten miles, ending at the finish location. The Hare is to leave a mound of flour or a painted mark on the road a tenth or so mile past each intersection. The remaining Hounds then set off to try to follow the Hare's route as perfectly as possible. Usually, the Hound reaching the finish location with the least mileage is the winner. With a little bit of imagination, the gamesmanship in which some Hounds will engage becomes evident (such as parking over the mark while "pondering" over a map!).

Regardless of the specifics of the gimmick rally, there are some basic tenets to observe. Experience has shown that gimmick rallies rarely continue to be fun for many competitors after the third hour. Since the number and difficulty of the questions, the nature of the roads, and the complexity of the route instructions will all affect how fast a "typical competitor" can cover the route, no particular mileage can be advised as a general rule. In rural driving with fifteen to twenty questions, a forty mile rally is plenty long. In a more sub/urban setting or with many more questions, half that distance would be fine. In general, the more heavily a road is traveled, the fewer questions should be asked along that stretch of the route…this is an obvious safety issue! Once the rally is tentatively laid out, the inexperienced rallymaster will do well to ask one or two trusted friends to run the rally as a trial. If done well enough in advance, the route and/or instructions and/or questions can be modified in response to problems which arise (although a caveat - trusted friends will not always share the rallymaster's mindset about what is to happen… for example, a question the rallymaster really likes may be the source of complaint on trial run. A good rallymaster will listen to the trial runner's comments but not necessarily change to tone of the rally in response to those comments).

Whatever the specifics of the rally, participants like prizes, even if they are inexpensive trinkets or even certificates printed on the home computer. While a Winner, Second and Third Place prizes seem standard, other prizes such as Shortest Distance, Best Guesser, or Most Lost can be awarded. One local club awards a "BGT8" award at each annual event; this award is an ugly amalgamation of trophy bits, awarded by the previous year's BGT8 winner to one competitor "just because." These non-standard prizes are always fun for all after everybody has had some refreshment following the rally.

Organizing a gimmick rally can be very easy. Laying out the route and determining the questions can make for an enjoyable weekend afternoon drive. Some typing and copying is required, and invitations must be mailed. Awards must be organized. And the rallymaster must score the results at the end. While the gimmick rally can be made considerably more complex, at its core it can be created and administered easily by just one person.

ORGANIZING YOUR RALLY II: The Time-Speed-Distance Rally

For the purpose of this article, only the organization of an easy TSD will be discussed. The easy TSD can be organized by one or two people, with a few friends to help administer the event. More complex TSD rallies (such as those run by the SCCA) require a much larger staff to organize and execute. Persons interested in organizing these types of events should contact their local SCCA region and participate in the organization of the regional Tour and Course Rally events.

The Ohio RallyTour, run annually since 1998, was the first TSD event prepared for and advertised on a national level for the Quattro Club USA membership. It has been organized as an easy TSD event, not requiring any special equipment, car preparations, or prior rally experience. It generally covers 300-400 miles over one day, with five to ten checkpoints. All roads used are paved, in the southeastern Ohio hill country. It is particularly called the "RallyTour" in order to emphasize the "tour" nature of this event. The goal of the Ohio RallyTour is to run a one-day Grand Tour, in the classic sense, with a mild time-base competition overlay. Efforts are made to ensure that this event has plenty of opportunity of time and place for social interaction among its participants. While the event has been extremely popular with those who have competed in the past, even at this simple level it still has limited appeal. This limited appeal further reinforces the idea that TSD rallies organized for this club should be of a "simple" variety.

As noted, a TSD rally takes advantage of the arithmetic relationship of speed, distance and time, as given by the formula 60 x distance (in miles) = speed (in mph) x time (in minutes). By specifying an average speed to maintain over a known distance, and having a standardized starting time for that distance, the ideal arrival time at the end of the distance (at the Checkpoint) can be calculated. A competitor's score in a TSD rally reflects the competitor's deviation from that ideal arrival time.

Because competitors' arrival time at each checkpoint must be measured, usually workers are required. Some rallies in the past have used time clocks into which competitors insert the scorecards to be punched with their arrival time, but this technology is generally not available to a rally organizer of the small event. Because workers will be required, one of the rallymaster's first tasks is to line up workers for the proposed date of the event. As with most events, it is wise to have an excess number of people promised to work, since either additional workers will be found to be necessary, and/or some promised workers will have other plans at the last minute!

The rallymaster must also define the nature of the event early in the organizational cascade. Questionaires sent to the competitors in the Ohio RallyTour 2000 indicate that a one day event is at present preferred. A multi-day event would at some point be very interesting, but will have a very limited appeal and will require a large and dedicated worker crew. Some have questioned the need for a 300-400 mile day. The basic philosophy of the Ohio RallyTour requires that distance, but certainly other rallies could be written to be shorter, with some likely increase in appeal to a broader audience. An event much shorter than 150 miles would seem to be too short to be worth the work of organizing a TSD event, other than for a very local group, such as a city- or county-based group of enthusiasts.

A route must be determined, with some preliminary ideas about checkpoint locations. In this regard, the paper copy of the DeLorme Atlas and Gazetteer is very valuable; it is too difficult to get a good overview with sufficient detail of a large geographic area on the electronic mapping programs. State maps or a Rand McNally Atlas may or may not show sufficient detail to do the initial route layout. At this early stage, a starting point, a location for mid-morning and mid-afternoon rest stops, mid-day meal arrangements, and a finish location must be considered. A good rule-of-thumb is that the average driver will average a little less than forty miles travel per hour, once time for rest and meal breaks is added in. Thus, in the early planning stages, consider that a proposed 300-350 mile rally will require at least eight to nine hours to complete.

Once the route has been determined on paper, it is time to go drive. Take a co-driver and plan on spending at least half again as much time as the anticipated rally will require. The paper route may or may not be complete, so the co-driver should be taking notes. Starting times, routes taken, turns made, and proposed checkpoints with arrival times should be noted, in a format which begins to resemble the actual route instructions to be handed out to competitors. This phase of the rally construction will require more than one day for each day of proposed rallying. Some problems that may be encountered include roads may not be "as mapped," there will be interesting side roads which will be attractive, some roads which start out fine prove to be unusable, and proposed checkpoint locations may not prove feasible.

While the nature of the roads used will be up to the individual rallymaster (depending on his/her concept of the event), there are some good rules regarding checkpoint selection. For an "open control," that is, a checkpoint where competitors must stop and register, there must be sufficient room for the checkpoint workers to be safely parked out of traffic, as well as room for two or three (at a minimum) competitor cars. Competitors and checkpoint workers will be out of their cars, so there must be enough room so these people will not risk being struck by passing car. Obviously, these concerns are much more important on a busy state route. Small county roads with little traffic allow the rallymaster some leeway with these issues. Remember than signage must be prepared and the location of the checkpoint chosen to allow approaching competitors to clearly recognize that they are entering a checkpoint. The traditional checkpoint sign is a large white board, about 12 inches wide by 18 inches high, with a large checkmark followed by a dot (check point, get it?) in some easily seen color. This is placed at the entrance to the checkpoint in plain view of oncoming competitors.

Some rallymasters may wish to use "closed controls." These checkpoints are hidden to the competitors, and therefore require much less room. Off-road space small enough for a single car for the checkpoint workers is required. The workers must have a clear view of the road so that passing cars can be identified. It is good form to place some sort of identification (clearly different from open control signage) so that competitors know they have passed a closed control. The closed control clearly adds an element of complexity; cars must be numbered in a clear fashion so that checkpoint workers can see the numbers as the cars pass. It also makes the rally more difficult for the competitors, since they must now literally maintain an average speed at all times rather than simply over an entire leg of the rally (assuming competitors know the approximate location of open controls).

Once a route and checkpoint locations have been decided, it is time to prepare route instructions (the "numbered route instructions," or NRIs) and determine average speeds to be specified. Perhaps the easiest format is to set up a spreadsheet on MS Excel, Lotus 123, or similar computer program. The leftmost column ("A") is the instruction number. The "B" column is the mileage since the last leg start. The "C" column is the instruction itself. The instruction can indicate turns, road signs to note, road hazards, the location of a checkpoint, or any other information the rallymaster feels necessary for the competitors to know. Some rallies will additionally use "tulip diagrams" to help indicate the turns. A tulip diagram for a left turn at a four-way intersection is shown below.

To read a tulip diagram, imagine the intersection is being viewed from overhead. The rallyist is represented by the dot, and the exit from the intersection is indicated by the arrow. Hence, the rallyist seeing this tulip as the next instruction knows to turn left at the next four-way intersection.

There must certainly be as many ways of describing the route as there are rallymasters. Unless the specific intent is to make the route following a part of the game itself (and these rallies do exist, and are known as "trap rallies"), the rallymaster should make every attempt to create route instructions that are accurate, easy to follow, and sufficiently complete to minimize the chance of the competitors becoming lost. If the rallymaster is intentionally creating a trap rally, potential competitors should be told about this before they register for the rally; trap rallies are not popular among those not seeking to do them!

As alluded to before, the rally is divided into legs. Each leg ends at an open control (checkpoint). Each leg starts at some defined point after the most recent checkpoint. Departure times for each leg are defined by "key times." The key time is a clock time to which each competitor adds his/her car number to determine their departure time for that leg. Since competitors may therefore be lined up at a leg start awaiting their own start time, it is a bad idea to have the checkpoint at the end of one leg be the start of the next leg. A leg start can be placed a few dozen yards or several miles following the last checkpoint. The intervening distance is called a "transit." Competitors should be given a certain amount of time to complete a transit, but by definition, there is no specific time-checking before, during or after a transit. Leg starts are easily noted in route instructions by referencing a sign or landmark; for example, "Leg IV starts at Reynolds Road sign." Trip odometers should be reset to zero at each leg start.

Key Times can be relative to arrival at the last checkpoint (for example, the workers at a checkpoint are told to add 5 minutes to the competitor's arrival time), or they may be absolute (i.e. 10:00 a.m.). The former method is most commonly used in large, more complex TSD rallying, with a few absolute key times (called Hard Times) after major rest/meal/regrouping stops. However, this is more difficult to administer with a limited worker crew, and therefore, in easy TSD rallies, it is probably best to give all key times as absolute time-of-day. The only significant disadvantage of this method is that the competitor who becomes lost is at a real disadvantage, since it will be very difficult to get back on the rally schedule. . . another reason why the route instructions must be easy to follow!

In the easiest TSD rally, only one average speed is specified over each leg. In other words, while the speeds may change over the course of the rally (and they should), competitors need only worry about one specific speed over each leg. Adding speed changes during a leg makes the rally somewhat more difficult, but may be an interesting variation even in easy TSD rallies. The experienced TSD rallyist recognizes the term "CAS," or Commence Average Speed. The proper way to indicate the average speed to maintain therefore takes the form "CAS 37" for Commence Average Speed of 37 mph.

A good way to figure the average speeds for various legs of the rally is to keep track of how long it takes to drive the legs while laying out the rally. If this driving was done at the pace of the typical driver, the average speed can be calculated and used. If this driving was done at a brisk pace (which happens to some rallymasters), it is wise to subtract about 10% from the rallymaster's speeds. In any case, setting speeds that are too low means that not only will competitors become bored, they may also pose a hazard to non-rallyists using the roads. Setting speeds that are too fast endangers the competitors and other road users; also not good!

At this point, the rallymaster will have a tentative set of route instructions, complete with notations about CAS speeds, Key Times and locations, Transits, road hazards, rest and meal halts, etc. As an example of one way this can be rendered, an excerpt from the Ohio RallyTour 2000 Route Instructions are reproduced below:

Note that some abbreviations are used. The specifics of the rally's methodology (i.e. how checkpoints will be used, what kind of roads will be used, etc.), a glossary of terms and abbreviations used, and (especially for rallies intended to appeal to relatively inexperienced rallyists) explanations of terms used, should be prepared. These are often called the General Instructions. For the Ohio RallyTour, these have been termed the Rules and Regulations, since the concepts of checkpoints, checkpoint etiquette, average speeds and the idea of time-speed-distance rallying are explained in much greater detail than would be done in a typical set of General Instructions. Having now written and formatted a set of proposed route instructions, complete with speed and checkpoint information, the rallymaster must create a set of General Instructions consistent with the rally which has been created.

Once this completed rally package has been written, the rallymaster must drive the rally route at least once, preferably twice or more, before that actual rally is held. This helps not only to proofread the route instructions, but also sometimes will uncover new roadworks making the route, as planned, impossible. While there will always be unexpected barriers to any route created, the good rallymaster will attend to and prevent all predictable obstructions to the running of the rally.

Having completed sufficient check-runs and modifications of the rally to now prepare the final version of the route instructions and General Instructions, it is good to have somebody else look over the entire package. General proofreading, errors of formatting, readability, etc… should all be checked. If available, a team not planning to compete in the rally should do a "trial run" of the rally, attempting to complete the rally at the specified CAS speeds. They can note their arrival time at the checkpoint locations for checking purposes. Once the instruction set is declared as error-free as reasonably possible, the rallymaster can take the General Instructions and the NRIs to the printer.

The scoring of the TSD rally is based upon competitors' deviation from ideal arrival times at checkpoints. While there are several ways in which a score can be determined, the most common is to express the score as a time deviation from an ideal arrival time, usually in seconds or hundredths of a minute. For the easy TSD, most competitors will not have access to clocks or watches reading the hundredths of minutes, so using minutes/seconds is probably the wisest, although it does make for some extra math for the rallymaster.

The rallymaster must know the ideal arrival time at each checkpoint for each car. Since the Key Time for each leg start is the time the theoretical Car 0 starts the leg, the Ideal Arrival Time is when that same Car 0 arrives at the checkpoint. When the route distance (in miles, to the tenth for an easy TSD) and CAS speed for each leg has been determined, the time (in hours/minutes/seconds) needed to complete the leg can be calculated. The ideal arrival time is then this completion time added to the Key Time. Scoresheets for each checkpoint with ideal arrival times for each competitor at each checkpoint are very easily prepared with a spreadsheet program. For the easy TSD, such scoresheets should be prepared and given to the workers at each checkpoint.

Checkpoint workers can enter the actual arrival time of each competitor on these scoresheets, and simple subtraction then gives the error for each competitor. For any competitor, the score for the rally is the sum of the absolute values (deviations) from all checkpoints. This calculation can be done manually, and if so is aided by having ideal arrival times printed on each checkpoint's scoresheets as noted above. Again, the computer will be found to be useful here, as it is not difficult to arrange a spreadsheet for scoring. Once all arrival times are in for all competitors, the rallymaster can simply enter all arrival times at all checkpoints, and the spreadsheet can be set up to automatically do the necessary subtraction and addition to calculate the scores for all competitors. If the rallymaster is not comfortable in setting up such a spreadsheet, it will pay dividends in avoided headaches and saved time to have a computer-knowledgeable friend aid in this project.

MAKING THE EVENT HAPPEN

At this point, the rallymaster has decided to have an event, has planned the type of rally and has laid it out. At this point, the rally is like any other event; people must be registered, workers must be organized, lodging and banquet reservations must be secured, and a financial system must be organized.

Costs can be difficult to assess for a rally. At track events, a major part of the cost is related to facility rental. The rally has none of that. Expenses relate to regalia and prize costs, meal costs, copying costs, registration party costs, and other unanticipated expenses. The rallymaster must have a minimum number of registrants at which a "break even" event budget can be anticipated. Given the rarity of these events in the QCUSA, it has been difficult to assess the level of interest in the first few years of the Ohio RallyTour. It is probably reasonable to anticipate only ten to fifteen competitors at the first event if it is advertised through a region and in the Quarterly. How well the event builds after that certainly depends on the reception of the first event.

Workers must be arranged. For a gimmick rally, none may be needed. For a TSD rally, though, it is nearly mandatory to have a team of two workers at each checkpoint. If the timing allows, checkpoint worker teams may work more than one checkpoint, but the rallymaster must allow time for the workers to have the checkpoint set up and ready, fifteen to thirty minutes in advance of the first car's ideal arrival time. And, the rallymaster must anticipate that checkpoint workers may need to remain at their checkpoint for up to an hour after the last car was due in.

Electronic information distribution and registration has worked well for the Ohio RallyTour. An information page, similar to that submitted to the Quarterly for publication, along with a registration form, are saved as Adobe Acrobat PDF files. The rallymaster's E-mail address is publicized in the Quarterly, on the QCUSA website, and in regional mailings. Interested parties request information via Email, and the PDF files are returned via Email. People then wishing to register print the registration form, and mail it along with the check for the registration fee to the rallymaster's USPS address. Upon receipt, the rallymaster Emails a PDF of the Rules and Regulations, along with a cover message about where to call for lodging reservations, to the registrant. A second "mass Emailing" is made about two weeks prior to the event, covering any additions or changes to the Rules and Regulations, as well as any last minute information.

At the event, it is a good idea to have a few spare copies of the event's General Instructions, as well as rough maps of the area to be covered on the rally. The Route Instructions (NRIs) can be distributed at any time. For the Ohio RallyTour, the NRIs are distributed one half hour before the first car is due to leave on the rally. This prevents competitors from thoroughly mapping out the route in advance of the rally.

CONCLUSIONS

Putting together any kind of rally can be great fun. Rallying offers one of the best ways to bring a wide variety of people and interests together. There are many quattro enthusiasts who will find these events to be their favored type of driving event. Quattro enthusiasts who may not be interested in the track events will often be very interested in a gimmick or easy TSD rally. And it has happened more than once that a "happy customer" after his/her first rally goes on to join in at other QCUSA driving events.

FOR FURTHER READING:

Sports Car Rallies, Trials and Gymkhanas by David Hebb and Arthur Peck. Copyrighted in 1956, this book is no longer in print. It is not difficult to find, and sellers of used motorsports books will likely have copies. This book is one of the "grand-daddies," and is perhaps the best reference for the future rallymaster interested in organizing a rally as much for the social interaction as for the competition. For modern SCCA-type TSD rallying, though, the book is well outdated.

The Road Rally Handbook; the Complete Guide to Competing in Time-Speed-Distance Road Rallies by Clint Goss. Published by Rally America! (6 Fieldcrest Road, Westport CT 06880), copyrighted in 1993. This book is the modern equivalent of Hebb's book, and should be purchased and read by anybody seriously interested in TSD rallying. The future rallymaster considering organizing a TSD rally should be familiar with the contents of this book; it will help assure a smooth-running event, even if not to the complexity this book delves in to.

Written December 2000
Contact: Phil Smith
Team Paradox / Rally Rhybudd Racing
www.rhybudd.com