What Is Rallying, Anyway?

Think World Rally Championship. Flying Subarus. Enthusiastic spectators. In stage rally, the roads are closed to the public and the goal is to go as fast as possible. In the modern era, teams are invited to drive the competition roads at low speed ahead of time ("recce") in order to write turn-by-turn "pace notes" to read out loud during the race. Stage rally requires fully caged and often professionally prepared cars with a high standard for safety for both occupants and their race cars.

TSD stands for Time-Speed-Distance, and competitors are instructed to adhere to a prescribed average speed or "CAST" which is below the legal speed limit, but often a challenge to maintain. The CAST almost always changes many times during a rally! Teams aim to arrive at checkpoints exactly on time, and whether early or late, any deviation from that "ideal time" counts against them. The team that ends with the lowest score wins. TSD rallying can be done in any road-legal vehicle and generally does not require any special mechanical preparation or safety equipment, although extreme events like Peking-To-Paris often feature professionally-built vehicles made to withstand thousands of miles of punishment.

Trap or "Course" Rally is a type of TSD rally in which the roadbook is designed to get you lost and your job is to stay on course. By solving puzzles and carefully interpreting complex instructions on the fly, only the wisest and quickest-witted competitor will win. Some rallymasters will experiment with exotic types of roadbooks or map-based driving challenges.

Furthest removed from the original concept of TSD rallying is the Game-Tour-Adventure or "Gimmick" rally. This can range from a car-based scavenger hunt to any manner of motorized game.