A rally pace notes glossary decodes a co-driver's shorthand. The number in a corner call grades its severity, from 1, a hairpin, to 6, barely a bend, on the most common scale. Crest is a rise that hides the road and lightens the car; don't cut means the inside hides a hazard; keep in and keep out say which side to hold; into means no straight before the next call; caution means slow down. Mars Rally Championship, a free browser rally game, speaks only a handful of these words.
How to read a rally pace note
A pace note runs in the order the car meets the road: distance, direction and number, modifiers, and a link word if the next feature follows at once. The WRC's A-Z defines pace notes as the co-driver's shorthand for the road ahead, corner severity and hazards included. The number, and the crews who count it the other way, are covered in rally pace notes explained; this glossary decodes the words around it.
There is no single standard, only several de facto ones, as Wikipedia's pacenotes article records. Each crew writes its own book on recce, and what a rally co-driver does covers how it is written and read.
Word order varies too: some crews say "left 4", others "4 left". Mars Rally Championship's co-driver says "left five", as WRC 10's does; DiRT Rally 2.0's says "5 left". Direction first means a late call still says which way to turn; number first leads with the severity.
The rally pace notes glossary, group by group
Each entry gives the meaning, what the driver does and an example.
Distances and link words
Distances. Numbers such as 50, 100 or 150 are metres of straight to the next feature, rounded, and the driver sets the braking point from them. Example: "one hundred, right 4".
Into. No straight between two features: the exit of one is the entry to the next, so the driver sets up the second while still in the first. Example: "left 3 into right 4".
And. A short gap, just enough to straighten the car. Crews disagree about whether into or and is the shorter. Example: "right 5 and left 5".
Corner words: hairpin, square, flat, plus and minus
Hairpin. The road turns back on itself, close to 180°, and crews that use the word treat it as slower than a 1. The driver brakes hardest here and may need the handbrake. Example: "hairpin left".
Square. A right angle with a tight radius, like a turn at a road junction, often taken at about the speed of a 1 or 2. Example: "square right". Graded by angle alone, as Mars Rally Championship grades, it would be a 3.
Flat. Full throttle, no lift. A 6 is usually flat anyway; the word confirms it at the speed the car will carry. Example: "right 6 flat".
Plus and minus. Half-steps: "4 plus" is a touch faster than a plain 4 and "4 minus" a touch tighter, so the driver brakes a fraction later or earlier. Example: "left 4 minus".
Long, tightens and opens
Long. The corner holds its radius longer than the number suggests, so the driver stays turned in and waits longer for full throttle; very long and extra long go further. Example: "right 4 long".
Tightens. The radius shrinks toward the exit. The number describes the entry, so the driver enters slower and keeps grip in reserve to add steering. Example: "left 4 tightens".
Opens. The radius grows toward the exit, so the driver can unwind the steering and get on the throttle early. Example: "right 3 opens".
Don't cut, cut, keep in and keep out
Don't cut. The inside hides something that will damage the car or throw it off line: a rock, a ditch, a stump, a drop. The driver stays off the apex even when the shorter line looks faster. Example: "right 3 don't cut".
Cut. The inside is safe to clip, so the driver takes the shorter line. Example: "left 5 cut".
Keep in. Hold the inside line, to set up the next corner or to stay clear of something on the outside. Example: "left 4 keep in".
Keep out. Stay wide, to avoid rough or rutted ground on the inside or to open the line for what follows. Example: "right 5 keep out".
What does crest mean in rally? Crests, jumps and dips
Crest. A rise the car drives over without leaving the ground. The road beyond is hidden and the tires go light at the top, so the driver finishes braking before it and arrives straight, on the side the note gives: left, right or middle. Example: "one hundred, crest, left 5".
Over crest. The corner bends across the rise, so the car turns while it is light. The driver turns in early and keeps inputs small. Example: "left 5 over crest".
Jump. The wheels will leave the ground; maybe jump means they might, and big jump means a long way. The driver sets the speed before the lip and never brakes on it, which pitches the nose down. Example: "caution, big jump".
Dip. A hollow: the suspension compresses at the bottom and extends on the way out, which unsettles braking and steering. Example: "dip, right 6".
Mars stretches crest and jump. Lift-off speed over a crest scales with the square root of gravity, so under Mars gravity of 3.72 m/s² a rise that just lifts a car at 100 km/h on Earth does it at about 62 km/h, and the same take-off stays airborne about 2.6 times as long. Crest is the call Mars needs most.
Caution, hazards and surfaces
Caution. Danger beyond what the number says, such as a bridge or a water splash, so the driver slows more than the note suggests. It escalates to double and triple caution, often marked in the book with exclamation marks. Example: "caution, left 3 don't cut".
Narrows and bump. Narrows means the road gets tighter, often at a bridge or gate posts, so the driver lines the car up early. A bump unsettles the car, so the driver stays smooth over it. Example: "left 5, narrows".
Loose and slippy. Loose gravel on the road, or less grip from mud, water or a polished surface. The driver brakes earlier and asks less of the tires. Example: "right 4 slippy".
A rally pace notes example, translated line by line
An invented run of notes:
One-fifty, right six flat. One hundred, left four long, tightens, and right three, don't cut. Fifty, crest. Eighty, left five over crest. Sixty, caution, jump, into right two, keep in.
| Call as read | What it means | What the driver does |
|---|---|---|
| "One-fifty" | 150 m of straight to the next call | Full throttle, listening ahead |
| "Right six flat" | A slight right kink, no lift needed | Stays flat, barely steers |
| "One hundred" | 100 m to the next corner | Picks a braking point for that distance |
| "Left four long, tightens" | A medium left that runs on, then closes | Enters slower than for a plain 4 |
| "And right three, don't cut" | A short gap, then a tight right with a hazard inside | Straightens, brakes, keeps off the apex |
| "Fifty, crest" | 50 m to a rise that hides the road | Arrives straight and off the brakes |
| "Eighty, left five over crest" | 80 m, then a fast left across the next rise | Turns in early, small inputs while light |
| "Sixty, caution, jump" | 60 m to a dangerous jump | Slows for the take-off, leaves straight |
| "Into right two, keep in" | A very tight right off the landing, danger outside | Brakes once landed, holds the inside |
Nothing in that book is a speed: choosing one is the driver's job.
What Mars Rally Championship's co-driver actually says
Mars Rally Championship's co-driver speaks three kinds of call. Every forward run opens with "stage starts, straight N meters", N being the distance from the start gate to the first corner: 75 on Stage 1, 109 on Stage 2. Corners are direction first, then the number as a word: "left five". Near the end comes "into finish, caution". Reversed and storm runs, free roam and the tutorial have no calls.
A strip at the top of the screen shows the next call in the form "RIGHT 4 · 120 M · ▼ 45": a live distance and something no paper book holds, an advised speed worked out from Mars grip, shown as FLAT above 110 km/h.
From this glossary, the voice uses one distance, left, right, the numbers, into and caution; the strip adds flat. The rest never comes up, from crest and jump to don't cut and keep out, because the calls come from gate positions and a list of points holds no crests or road edges. The only time the game says long is the voice sample in settings: "right three, long".
On the two open stages the numbers are only fives and sixes: six corner calls on Stage 1, walked through in the Stage 1 fastest line guide, and ten on Stage 2, covered in the Stage 2 racing line guide.
Where to try this
Mars Rally Championship is free, runs in the browser with no download and no account, and works on a phone or a school Chromebook.
- Stage 1, The Opener: eight calls in all, every corner a five or a six.
- Stage 2, The Long Run: note where a human co-driver would add crest, jump or long.
- Co-driver settings: pick another English voice or turn the voice off; the strip stays.
- How to get faster at rally games: the braking and exit-speed technique under every call.