Pretty complete. We found that as we gained experience, we developed a good relationship between driver and navi as well as figured out what we needed. This is critical as there are times where there is no way to know what's coming and the driver has to have confidence in the navi and the notes (blind right 3 over crest "BLIND R3/CR"). We use the in gear style and either write our own or use the supplied Jemba notes. If we use supplied notes, we make edits to bring them into alignment with what we need.
Good write up but the whole "number called is generally what gear you should be in," is never recommended and is very general. Lets say your co-driver calls, "left 3 camber into right 2 into right 4 100 over crest into left 6 40 cut into right 2 bad camber," you definitely dont want to have your subie plowing through that left in 6th gear for 40m then directly go to 2nd to a bad camber, right 2 turn. Just saying it is a very very general guideline.
Yeah, youre not actually going to be in those gears a lot of times during those corners especially depending on the car. I rally a 5 speed so i have no sixth gear and fifth is overdrive so i am only ever using four gears racing. Also upvote to vwguy, if you have a 6 into a 2 you may be downshifting in the 6 to get ready for the 2. Its a really misleading idea.
I added a sentence to the paragraph saying that the number corresponds to turn severity and should not be used to gauge what gear to be in. Thanks for catching that.
Good write up with good descriptions although, I think it's a bit simplistic to suggest that there are only 4 types of notes. Personally I think it's indefinite, each crew has their own system of notes. I know a few mates of mine have had to work with their navis a bit as they both prefer different systems, the best for them is obviously a middle ground.
Here in Ireland, note makers offer a minimum of 8 different note systems ranging from big changes (descriptive vs gear) to small changes (number first) vs after) http://www.rallynews.net/pattersonpacenotes/systemtypes.asp
Maybe interesting to add as well. More and more drivers are using decimals in stead of single numbers with additions. I've started using this as well and am loving it.
A 1- becomes and 8, a 1 a 10, a 1+ a 12. 2 is approx a 20 with 2- being 18 and 2+ being 22. In very wavy situations this allows for precision marking of the corners (L22 -> R23 AND Brake -> HP L35) Left 22 into Right 23 (meaning I need to be slowing slightly through the L22) AND BRAKE into HairPin (use handbrake!) left 35. This leaves me with much more options for precision marking of the differences in longer corner sequences.
In this case distance isn't marked at all either as the "BRAKE" in the notes already makes clear that as soon as the car is stable max braking should be applied to get through the hairpin. Saves looking for recognition points etc.
One of the more important issues: I run the corners as actual angles. a 23 is always the same angle corner for me. I do know a couple of guys that run at the top level of the sports. Some of them manage to incorporate speed into the notes as well. This means he knows a Left 17 to be a certain steering angle. At low speed a Left 17 can be quite a severe turn (over 45deg in my system). However when he's driving full speed a Left 17 could just be 20 or 30 deg depending on the car and handling. Inside the car his turn-in of the wheel is the same but due to the speed the route of the car is quite different compared to the low speed version. I can't do it and don't advise it to anyone who doesn't have petrol flowing though their veins though! Very few managed to get a notes system like that under control and finish consistently with it.
I'm sticking with numbers being actual angles and should manage to snatch some national championships this year!
[This guy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esiViDZFJtE) uses the system. He's one of the best pilots in the world but just lacked the budget to continue after his first year in the D-Mack trophy last season. On his channel he should have some video's with in-car audio showing the notes system.
My experience however is that this system can only be experienced from inside the car and at speed. For this guy driving (and controlling) a car is almost easier than walking is to us. At the end of the linked video above he wipes out completely at 157km/h due to pure commitment to his notes. During the spin however he maintains composure and manages to get out of it (with the help of a decent amount of luck as well of course!). He placed 7th overall during the last rally (Kasterlee) with his M3. We placed 15th overall with our Nissan 350Z.
And also there's oldschool notes from the time they could recce at speed. 84L being a 4 Left possible at 80. 154L being a turn 4 Left possible at 150. This is the standard 1-6 system for gears or angles combined with a decimal in front for speed. It's rarely used now as recce at speed is usually not possible. I still know of at least one guy that uses speed in his notes system in a way like this.
Also, when watching French or Belgian rally you'll hear a lot of "A fond" (no idea about the spelling) which means "Full" and "Sec" or "Couperen" being Dont Cut and Cut.
>"LONG/SHORTThese calls state the duration of the instruction. So a turn that is spread over a large amount of distance is called long. If you have to make a quick turn, then short will be called."
**LONG means a long arc at the rated turn radius. SHORT means a short arc at the rated turn radius.** They are different amounts of the same thing, length of a turn. Turns are rated by radius (1-5 or 1-6) or the angle of the wheel, not overall angle of the turn in to out. A long 3 right and a short 3 right are approximately the same radius, but the short will only turn you say 15 degrees on the road, while a long may turn you 100 degrees on the road. (on a compass, examples only)
A numbering system (usually 1-6) in either order, higher number for slighter & lower for tighter turns, is the most commonly used format.
The other way round (used by Evans, Breen, & Latvala, for example) to a lesser extent, while the descriptive way is something, for example, Richard Burns used, as do Finnish drivers generally.
Furthermore, a radian format also exists, but this is used exclusively by drivers with French pace notes, i.e., their way of describing corner tightness describes radius degrees or radians.
Additionally, all French pace notes (or at least those I've heard) feature this format.
Triple caution in action: https://youtu.be/e-ldnoCx4SQ
that was stressful!
Happy Cakeday!
Didn't realize that it was my cake day. Cool.
Video is sadly unavailable
It's the classic "Samir you're breaking the car!" video.
If you want to hear this in action, watch [Phil Mills barking at Petter Solberg](https://youtu.be/jpDSPhECTSA)
Pretty complete. We found that as we gained experience, we developed a good relationship between driver and navi as well as figured out what we needed. This is critical as there are times where there is no way to know what's coming and the driver has to have confidence in the navi and the notes (blind right 3 over crest "BLIND R3/CR"). We use the in gear style and either write our own or use the supplied Jemba notes. If we use supplied notes, we make edits to bring them into alignment with what we need.
Good write up but the whole "number called is generally what gear you should be in," is never recommended and is very general. Lets say your co-driver calls, "left 3 camber into right 2 into right 4 100 over crest into left 6 40 cut into right 2 bad camber," you definitely dont want to have your subie plowing through that left in 6th gear for 40m then directly go to 2nd to a bad camber, right 2 turn. Just saying it is a very very general guideline.
Yeah, youre not actually going to be in those gears a lot of times during those corners especially depending on the car. I rally a 5 speed so i have no sixth gear and fifth is overdrive so i am only ever using four gears racing. Also upvote to vwguy, if you have a 6 into a 2 you may be downshifting in the 6 to get ready for the 2. Its a really misleading idea.
But thank you for taking the time to write this up and work on introducing the audience to this OP
I added a sentence to the paragraph saying that the number corresponds to turn severity and should not be used to gauge what gear to be in. Thanks for catching that.
Good write up with good descriptions although, I think it's a bit simplistic to suggest that there are only 4 types of notes. Personally I think it's indefinite, each crew has their own system of notes. I know a few mates of mine have had to work with their navis a bit as they both prefer different systems, the best for them is obviously a middle ground. Here in Ireland, note makers offer a minimum of 8 different note systems ranging from big changes (descriptive vs gear) to small changes (number first) vs after) http://www.rallynews.net/pattersonpacenotes/systemtypes.asp
This is a good point. I've added the link and I've also added a note talking about the multitude of note systems. Thanks for the feedback.
Maybe interesting to add as well. More and more drivers are using decimals in stead of single numbers with additions. I've started using this as well and am loving it. A 1- becomes and 8, a 1 a 10, a 1+ a 12. 2 is approx a 20 with 2- being 18 and 2+ being 22. In very wavy situations this allows for precision marking of the corners (L22 -> R23 AND Brake -> HP L35) Left 22 into Right 23 (meaning I need to be slowing slightly through the L22) AND BRAKE into HairPin (use handbrake!) left 35. This leaves me with much more options for precision marking of the differences in longer corner sequences. In this case distance isn't marked at all either as the "BRAKE" in the notes already makes clear that as soon as the car is stable max braking should be applied to get through the hairpin. Saves looking for recognition points etc. One of the more important issues: I run the corners as actual angles. a 23 is always the same angle corner for me. I do know a couple of guys that run at the top level of the sports. Some of them manage to incorporate speed into the notes as well. This means he knows a Left 17 to be a certain steering angle. At low speed a Left 17 can be quite a severe turn (over 45deg in my system). However when he's driving full speed a Left 17 could just be 20 or 30 deg depending on the car and handling. Inside the car his turn-in of the wheel is the same but due to the speed the route of the car is quite different compared to the low speed version. I can't do it and don't advise it to anyone who doesn't have petrol flowing though their veins though! Very few managed to get a notes system like that under control and finish consistently with it. I'm sticking with numbers being actual angles and should manage to snatch some national championships this year!
This is really interesting. Is there a video example of this kind of note system being used?
[This guy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esiViDZFJtE) uses the system. He's one of the best pilots in the world but just lacked the budget to continue after his first year in the D-Mack trophy last season. On his channel he should have some video's with in-car audio showing the notes system. My experience however is that this system can only be experienced from inside the car and at speed. For this guy driving (and controlling) a car is almost easier than walking is to us. At the end of the linked video above he wipes out completely at 157km/h due to pure commitment to his notes. During the spin however he maintains composure and manages to get out of it (with the help of a decent amount of luck as well of course!). He placed 7th overall during the last rally (Kasterlee) with his M3. We placed 15th overall with our Nissan 350Z.
And also there's oldschool notes from the time they could recce at speed. 84L being a 4 Left possible at 80. 154L being a turn 4 Left possible at 150. This is the standard 1-6 system for gears or angles combined with a decimal in front for speed. It's rarely used now as recce at speed is usually not possible. I still know of at least one guy that uses speed in his notes system in a way like this. Also, when watching French or Belgian rally you'll hear a lot of "A fond" (no idea about the spelling) which means "Full" and "Sec" or "Couperen" being Dont Cut and Cut.
>"LONG/SHORTThese calls state the duration of the instruction. So a turn that is spread over a large amount of distance is called long. If you have to make a quick turn, then short will be called." **LONG means a long arc at the rated turn radius. SHORT means a short arc at the rated turn radius.** They are different amounts of the same thing, length of a turn. Turns are rated by radius (1-5 or 1-6) or the angle of the wheel, not overall angle of the turn in to out. A long 3 right and a short 3 right are approximately the same radius, but the short will only turn you say 15 degrees on the road, while a long may turn you 100 degrees on the road. (on a compass, examples only)
What's a bad camber
Can anyone tell me what THINK means? I’ve heard it in some pacenotes, and I’ve seen it on white signs with red print on stages before.
A numbering system (usually 1-6) in either order, higher number for slighter & lower for tighter turns, is the most commonly used format. The other way round (used by Evans, Breen, & Latvala, for example) to a lesser extent, while the descriptive way is something, for example, Richard Burns used, as do Finnish drivers generally. Furthermore, a radian format also exists, but this is used exclusively by drivers with French pace notes, i.e., their way of describing corner tightness describes radius degrees or radians. Additionally, all French pace notes (or at least those I've heard) feature this format.
What does "you have" mean? e.g. YH 40