An Introduction to Rallying

[ColinD]

An Introduction to Rallying

The World Rally Championship is one of the most breathtaking spectacles on earth. It’s all about men and machinery conquering the most challenging conditions that nature can throw at them. It takes place on snow, mud, and sand The unexpected is always around the corner.

A number of global car manufacturers currently compete in World Rallying. Among these prestigious elite is Skoda Auto, represented by its best-selling Octavia. However, Skoda Octavia WRC car with its special modifications is very much different from the car you could see on the roads.

What is a World Rally Car?

World Rally Cars are based on production models, but are highly tuned and modified to make them capable of tackling every condition under the sun. As well as being reliable, the cars have to be exceedingly fast. World Rally Cars accelerate from 0-100 kilometres per hour at about the same speed as the fastest road-going motorbikes. They are capable of topping 220 kilometres per hour flat out, but can stop in less time than it takes to say Mlada Boleslav – the town in the Czech Republic where the Skoda team are based.

All World Rally Cars are turbo-charged for extra power and have four-wheel-drive for maximum traction. There are strict rules limiting the amount of tuning that teams can carry out on their cars. A standard air restrictor into the engine means that all World Rally Cars put out approximately 300 horsepower. It’s up to each individual team to decide how to use all that power to their greatest advantage.

One way to make the car faster is to make it lighter. A World Rally Car’s interior is stripped out to include only the bare essentials, and lightweight materials are used wherever possible. But there is a minimum weight limit of 1230 kilograms, and cars can be randomly weighed at any point during a rally. If a car is found to be underweight, then it will be disqualified.

What is a rally?

Unlike racing, where drivers compete against each other on a track, a rally is primarily a race against the clock. Every car competing on a rally has to follow a prescribed route over three days, normally totalling about 1500 kilometres. There is an overnight halt at rally headquarters each day.

The route is divided into a number of special stages (normally around 20) interspersed with road sections that link them all together.

The drivers have to drive as quickly as possible through the special stages. They set off one by one, normally at two-minute intervals. The driver who is fastest wins the stage. All the times from every stage are added up as the rally progresses. The driver who has the lowest total time at the finish is the winner.

On the road sections that link the stages the drivers do not drive at competitive speeds, as they are on normal public roads. But there are still target times within which drivers have to complete the road sections. These are normally quite generous – but a problem on a road section can still put a driver out of a rally. Timing is a key element of the sport. If a driver arrives late or early at a time control (located at the start and finish of each stage), then the crew are handed a time penalty.

The demands of rallying put a lot of strain on the cars, but they can only receive attention from mechanics in the service area. This is the equivalent of the pit lane at a racing circuit. The cars go to the service area three of four times a day, and they are only allowed to remain there for 20 minutes without incurring time penalties. There is a longer service, of 45 minutes, at the end of the day.

What happens in the service area?

Cars normally change their tyres and refuel at the service area. But if there is a mechanical problem to be fixed, or accident damage to repair, then a team’s service area becomes a hectic place! It’s possible for a well-trained team of mechanics to change an entire gearbox in less than 15 minutes. Rallying is truly a team sport: the mechanics can be just as crucial to obtaining a top result as the driver.

It helps for a driver to have some mechanical knowledge. Outside the service area, only he and the co-driver are allowed to work on the car if necessary – using only tools and spares that are carried in the car.

The role of the co-driver

A competing rally crew consists of a driver and co-driver. The driver’s job is to drive the car, whereas the co-driver’s job is to prepare and read out pace notes. These are notes that describe the road ahead to the driver, telling him which corners and other hazards are coming up. The notes are prepared during the pre-rally reconnaissance, which takes place a couple of days before the rally starts. To complete the reconnaissance, drivers drive over the entire rally route slowly. They then describe the road to the co-drivers, who write the notes down. Other than during the reconnaissance, competing crews are not allowed to look at the roads to be used on the rally before the start.

But the co-drivers’ role goes way beyond that of simply being the driver’s secretary. Ask Skoda’s Paavo Lukander, who has been co-driver to Toni Gardemeister since the young Finn started rallying. “Making sure the pace notes are right is very important, but there are lots of other things to worry about as well!” says Lukander. “Co-drivers are also time-keepers, and we have to make sure that the car arrives at every time control when it should do – neither early nor late.

“I’m also the link between the driver and the team, and am in regular contact with them on the road sections over the radio. I have to be a strategist when Toni and myself decide which tactics we are going to use. And it’s important to be a good psychologist too – you have to be able to judge the mood of your driver and cheer him up when he’s depressed, or tell him to slow down if he’s taking too many risks. To be a good co-driver, you have to be very organised and efficient. You also have to be quite fit, as the sport involves lots of late nights and early mornings!”

Who else is in the team?

Most rally teams bring about 50 people to each rally. Every one has a clearly defined role, from the team boss – who takes all the major decisions – to the team chef, who is responsible for making sure nobody goes hungry!

About nine mechanics work on each car, overseen by a chief mechanic. Certain mechanics and engineers have specific responsibilities. One technician will be in charge of tyres for example. Škoda use Michelin tyres, but it is up to the drivers – helped by the technicians – to choose the most appropriate tyres for each group of stages.

The tyre choice often hinges on information provided by the gravel crews. The gravel crews drive through each stage a couple of hours before the competing cars. Their job is to check that the pace-notes completed during the reconnaissance are still relevant. They will often make last minute changes to the pace notes in order to point out new hazards (such as standing water) that might have appeared since the reconnaissance.

[shyVRS245]

Best experience when I owned a string of SEAT Ibiza GTi's and finally a Leon Cupra was a track day at Prodrive in Warwickshire. Highlight was being driven in a works Ibiza Rally car round the track by Barbara Armstrong former British Rally Champion at alarming speeds. Can't remember whether it produced 260 or 280bhp from the 2.0 litre normally aspirated engine but it revved to about 8,000 rpm and was very loud and very exciting.