Rally driving navigation

A Navigation Rally is a rally that is run on open public roads, normally at night, and is a test of the combined skill of the driver and navigator to plot a route on a map and then drive that route correctly and within a given time schedule.

The routes make the best use of the fantastic network of quiet country lanes that exist in Northern Ireland and many events have sections that follow famous stages from our closed road stage rallies.

The route is not known by the competitors before the event starts. The key points (Time Controls) of the route are given to competitors at the event starting venue and then when they arrive at the first time control, will receive instructions to enable them to plot the route on to the map. These instructions are given in various formats, each of which will be discussed in detail in this book. If the competitor plots and drives this route correctly, they will arrive at the next time control where they will receive instructions to make their way to the third time control, and so on.

The rally is scored by giving penalty marks for being early or late relative to their time schedule at each time control, and at unknown locations between time controls. Heavy penalties are given to crews who take an incorrect route. The lowest score at the end of the rally wins the event.

Map References

Map References, or Grid References, define locations on maps using coordinates.

Grid lines on maps define the coordinate system and are numbered to provide a unique reference to features.

Here is an example of a map reference and where it refers to on a map. All Ordnance Survey of maps, which are the standard maps we use for rallying, are based on the Grid Reference System.