Going to give Rally co-driving a shot, impart me with wisdom.

I've competed in some form or another for the past 15 years, but always with a steering wheel in my hand. An opportunity to co-drive has presented itself at the NY Rallysprints. Co-driving is on my bucket list. Aside from a few TSD's, and instructing at a few autocrosses and track events, I've not been in the passenger seat much. I've been reading everything I can find. Driver seems fine with a rookie in the passenger seat, and the event format itself is rookie friendly. Dramamine and ginger, yep I'll have that. Sealable bags, yup. Motion sickness doesn't seem to affect me, but better safe than sorry. Say I'm lost, if/when I lose my place in the notes. I guess I'm more nervous about the paperwork side of things, once the car is driving I'm sure I'll be fine. I'd hate to cause a penalty by being ignorant. Impart upon me your wisdom for a first time co-driver.

I don't understand navigators or side-car motorcycle racers. All the danger, no control and no glory. It's like being the kicker in football.

Pass.

My understanding is that it takes a really fast mind to keep up and really strong stomach. I possess neither. The tough part is keeping up and readjusting should something go awry.

Oddly, I'm more nervous about trailering the race car through Boston traffic, than riding with a driver I've never driven with before. Speaking with him and examining previous results suggests decent odds of staying out of the trees. I'm not such a control freak that I have to drive. I honestly enjoy just about any motorsport. Co-driving always seemed like a more sensible solution to the race habit, as you don't have the expense of maintaining a car. Given the abuse to the vehicle receives in a rally, driving is no bargain for the car owner. Don't get me wrong. I win the lottery tomorrow, I'm thinking I'd do more driving than co-driving, but I think I'd still do both, so I understand how the whole thing works.

pinchvalve wrote: My understanding is that it takes a really fast mind to keep up and really strong stomach. I possess neither. The tough part is keeping up and readjusting should something go awry.

My day job is an odd sort of combination that I think will serve me well. I'm an accountant by trade. However, where I work can be an absolute zoo on busy days(ski resort). I'm the chief trouble shooter. All the stuff that flow down hill, stops with me. I can do math in high pressure and distracting settings. I've driven competitively a long time. I've wrecked hard. So while going fast in a car still gets the juice flowing, I'm not going to be totally freaked out about going fast.

Don't look up. Trust the driver to do what you said, keep your attention on the computer and the notes. If you do look up, you'll make yourself more prone to motion sickness and - more importantly - lose your place.

GRM published an article a while back that included some suggestions for novice co-drivers: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/rally-eh/

I think I read a great article over on specialstage about codriving

Thanks Keith. Jaynen, Yeah I've been studying stuff on special stage 24/7.

Give me the wheel.

N Sperlo wrote: Give me the wheel.

Why?

Keith wrote: Don't look up. Trust the driver to do what you said, keep your attention on the computer and the notes. If you do look up, you'll make yourself more prone to motion sickness and - more importantly - lose your place. GRM published an article a while back that included some suggestions for novice co-drivers: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/rally-eh/

Yepper a good navigator never sees the road.

Hope you don't get motion sickness

Here's why you don't look up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZxxFDZE99I

I did it once(and we won - I guess that gives me a 100% winning streak! ).

What I remember: Our event did tulip maps, no pace-notes or recce(those will make a difference). But the tulips didn't really match the road, there were instructions on the map that in reality weren't even a kink in the road, so it was hard to know for certain when to reset the odo.

If at all possible, get in the car with the driver before the event and drive around the countryside. He/she should tell you how they want the instructions read, and this can be good practice - even if the map doesn't match the road you're on, you can start to develop a rhythm this way.

If your driver is good, or has much of a sense of self-preservation, he/she will be driving line-of-sight and only using your instructions to correlate with what they see, until the two of you form a communication bond. That will likely take more than one event.

Also, you want Bonine not Dramamine. It's non-drowsy. I get deathly ill from motion - I can't take my eyes off the road at all when I'm a passenger - but I had no feeling of motion sickness with Bonine.

Oh, and if you have in-car video, you'll be shocked: What feels like top-WRC speed in-car, looks like a leisurely Sunday drive when you watch it for the first time.

Have fun & good luck!

If you do in-car, try to patch in the intercom system into your video. It's a lot cooler.

Janel uses Gravol for motion sickness, although she doesn't really need it anymore. Not available in the US, but it doesn't seem to mess with you if you take it for a week like Dramamine does.

On a related note: open-face helmet.

We used cumulative distances with tulip diagrams. Trying to reset an odometer at every instruction seems like asking for trouble. If you've got an experienced driver, the car is probably already set up.

I have Bonine. Unsure if the video will interface with the intercom, but I do agree that is cooler.

Just got a great comment on one of the in-car Targa videos: "Your girlfriend sure is yappy"

I have done a few full seasons and a few one offs in the ballast position with a couple different drivers. Prior to that I had drove and went through a bunch of buddies as first timer co drivers.

Best advice I have.

Bring 2 watches

I prefer mechanical pencils to pens, I bring several.

Don't think to hard about the other stuff too much. Stick to the schedule and the book and you will be OK. Focus on notes, those will get you in trouble.

I use Alieve to get a head of muscle aches, you will hit a hard bump or rock somewhere, I never had motion issues so I cannot speak about that.

Keep your belts tight, it makes it easier when you don't flop around.

As stressful as the competition is, there really is no better stress relief, enjoy it.

Do the Recce if at all possible. It will get you used to the notes and the flow a little bit. It will seem odd and tough at slow speeds, but makes much more sense when you are hustling. Keep notes minimal as well, maybe throw in a landmark before real tricky parts so you can at least find those bits if lost.

Keep food and water in the car. It is good to keep your energy up, I have also been stuck for hours at the side of the road/ deep in the woods.

Know where the fire extinguisher and turbo are located. Fluids will spontaneously combust on the turbo if they escape.

Most importantly, it is always the equipments fault, not the drivers or your own!!

One more, lick you finger. When you need to flip that page you need to do it quick. A moist finger will cut down on 'dry fires' trying to flip the page.

Thank you. No turbo, so one less thing to worry about. This is a rallysprint, so it is a condensed format. We'll be able to do recce, and it is the same day as the competition. One stage road run in opposite directions several times. Bought a 2nd watch last night, with great big numbers. I have mechanical pencils with thick leads.

So if its back and forth on the same stage is it kind of like a point to point autocross?

Since it's novice friendly, focus first on staying on course. Knowing where you are, and what is coming up, and letting the driver know what to do next. It's not as easy as it sounds.

After you get comfortable with staying on course, start working with staying on time. This is mind blowingly hard.

A very basic calculator (or rally wheel) with big buttons is a lot better than an engineering calculator.

Practice with one of the virtual rally games online. Think the britishcarforum has one. It's all navigation technique.

don't E36 M3 your pants.

Keith wrote: Don't look up.

This is 100%, unequivocally incorrect. However, having dealt with drivers for many years, I wouldn't actually expect them to know anything besides how to drive fast (sometimes)

Looking up at the right moment is critical for a number of reasons; making sure you are where you are supposed to be, that you are calling the notes early (or late enough) and adjusting accordingly are two reasons I can think of right off the bat. It also helps when calling braking points, confusing corners, and deceptive crests.

No one in stage rally uses the rally odometer to actually time when to call notes, that would be insane, unless you are running tulips, which is a completely different ball game, but still requires looking up even more, as a navigator will use best judgement to guess what the road is doing/where it is going as tulips are typically few and far between.

Not to toot my own horn, but I've been doing this for a while and have a couple trophies/championships to my name, I'd like to think I've been around the block.

Having said all of that, it appears all of the other information you have been provided is quite solid.

Since your first event is made up of a turnaround stage, checking in might be very easy. Instead of having assigned times that you must rigidly follow, they might simply have competitors stage outside controls and wave them in. At least, that is typically how turnarounds are done in Western Canada, so YMMV. The US system(s) are different then what we use up here, and vary from organization to organization, so I am of little help there. The best thing you can do is find a non-newb co-driver and buddy up with them, they can guide you through what to do. If your driver isn't a total... driver... he may actually be able to help you (I'd be surprised though, drivers being drivers and all).

It's not a true turnaround every time. The road will actually loop back past service. The first two stages are the same direction, next 2 are reverse, then two more forward, and two more reversed. So you only really turn around three times.

I'm sure I'm making mountains out of mole hills. I just like being prepared.

Question about the stage notes. Free stages notes for this event. Are they likely to come bound in some sort of book, or will I be transferring paper into a notebook?

Thank you!

sachilles wrote: Question about the stage notes. Free stages notes for this event. Are they likely to come bound in some sort of book, or will I be transferring paper into a notebook? Thank you!

Any event I've ever competed in, the notes have come bound. One important reason for this is people suck at transcribing page upon page of text by hand, including myself. You write one L4 as a R4 and you're screwed!

I thought you said there was recce? If so, I highly suggest you convince your driver to do your own notes. It's the only way to properly learn, and a huge hinderance in US rallying (look at Chris Duplessis as an example, fast guy, tons of work on notes required).

Just my 2cents on that