Understanding regulations

[Rallynavigator]

Do you understand the regulations when published. do you break them down in any particular order.

[expat]

Yes. The co-driver HAS to understand the regulations or, sooner or later, you will get something seriously wrong.

My breakdown starts with the schedule, which I memorise as much as possible. Drivers chatting over a coffee during the recce will expect co-drivers to be able to answer, off the top of their head, questions like "What time does scrutineering close" or "what time is re-start on day 2?". I always like to answer such questions without pulling out the regs.

Then I break down the regs to get the info I need to supply to other people, usually the service crew. Their schedule, service restrictions, parc ferme arrangements etc. Anything that will be written up into the service plan.

Then I look for any unusual features on this rally. That could be anything from changes to standing regs to odd requirements for paperwork. Something that is becoming more common is the requirement to carry a tracker in the rally car and even in the recce car. I make sure I know the rules for that, and try to think of any way to get around them.

I look for regs covering the recce. How many times can you drive the stages? What is the penalty for driving more? Can you "double up" and have 2 crews in 1 car? Does it count as a recce run if you are in the back?What is the recce speed limit and what is the penalty for breaking it? Where should recce numbers be displayed?

The list goes on, but to summarise I try to make sure I spot anything unusual about this rally, I try to have the schedule more or less memorised, and I try to anticipate questions that might be asked by other team members. This latter is largely based on the oddball questions I have been asked in the past.

[Edit to correct typo]

[Rallynavigator]

I always look at the regs from front to back and pick out the same as you really the important parts that everybody needs to know.
I compile the listing for service crew, schedule , location aux service information etc.
All regs are printed three times or as many copies I need for all the service crew, laminate and bind
There is no reason why nobody doesnt know the information.

I then take a good look at the timings, lateness, etc. and add to the memory bank. you are quite right you need to know all the details not just the basics. I have heard of people just taking for granted that all regs are the same format

Finals are also printed out and given to to the relevant people , to add to there own folder.

[expat]

I don't usually copy the regs & finals for anyone. I don't want to rely on the service crew reading and understanding the finer points of the official documents. If I want them to know something I make sure I tell them & document it myself.

[Rallynavigator]

I cant understand that, why would you go to that trouble and leave the finer points out.

[expat]

If the finer points are important for the service crew to know I don't leave them out; I put them in my document.
There is a lot of information in a set of regs, most of which is pretty standard, much of it is of no interest to the service crew and some of it is in "Rally Speak" that a typical non-competing mechanic may not understand. At best a mechanic will skim-read the regs if I provide them, which is not good enough. A typical mechanic may not spot something that I regard as important or exploitable. So I document what they need to know, explaining things in terms I know they will understand. I explain not only what the regs say but what that means to our team, and what we might do differently.
This way the service get less to read, everything in my document is potentially important to them, and my document is easier for them to understand.

[Rallynavigator]

That makes more sense to me now. The only reason I question that is the service crew we use all compete at the same level if not higher than myself, so understanding the regs is just as important to them as it is me.

[expat]

Excellent You are lucky.

[Rallynavigator]

Most of the club compete either forest or tarmac so we all help each other on the events, so yes quite fortunate