The Three Types of Control

Controls

You will find a large number of different types of controls listed in many rally regulations, however there are basically only three types - route checks, passage controls and time controls.

Route Checks are unmanned controls. Competitors prove that they have visited the control by copying onto their timesheet the code that is on the control board. The boards cannot be smaller than a car number plate and must not have more than seven digits. The code board must face competitors (K.16.7.1). On most rallies a competitor will have to get the marshal at the next manned control to sign for the fact that the code has been recorded on the timesheet - the marshal will signing for the fact that an entry has been made not that that entry is correct.

Passage Controls are similar to Route Checks but will be manned. There can be no code board. The only requirement at the control is that the marshal signs the competitor's timesheet as proof of passage. The marshal can also judge on whether the competitor approached from and departed in the correct direction. A Passage Control must not be within 500 metres of any other manned control (K.16.7.2).

Timed controls are used at the beginning, end and sometimes the middle of sections. However only those preceded by a competitive section, i.e. those in the middle or end of a section, will have a penalty for late arrival. Arriving late at controls preceded by a non-competitive or relaxed section will only eat into a crew's overall maximum lateness allowance. There will be a penalty for booking in early, i.e. before due time, to any control.

The marshal at a time control can:

• Enter the time on the timesheet
• Adjudicate on approach and departure
• Sign for any Route Checks

A clock at a time control timed to the minute can be no more than 15 seconds out from BBC/Telecom time and for those timed to the second they cannot be more than 5 seconds out (K.3.12.4).

Time controls on the public highway cannot be less than two miles apart (K.3.5).

Some time controls will be specified as Main Controls. The very first and very last control of the event will be a Main Control and the halfway halt may have a Main Control In and Out. Normally to be classified as a finisher competitors need to visit all Main Controls.

At neither a Passage or Time Control must competitors be asked to make any entry on the time sheet or the marshal's check sheet (K.16.7.3).

It's very important to note that at all controls it is the navigator's responsibility to ensure that they receive the time they ask for and that the route card/time sheet is filled in correctly and completely (K.16.5).

If a marshal is not present at a control for the whole period that competitors can report at that point then any penalities for that control will be scrubbed (K.16.4). However checks manned by Driving Standard Observers or Judge of Facts need not be manned for the period during which competitors may report (K.13.4).

 

Three Metre Controls

Three Metre Controls have become a normal part of road rallies since the instigation of the enforced 30 mph average speed. They're basically the equivalent of chicanes in circuit racing. The term three metres comes from the fact that rather than a control area covering 50 metres from the marshal, due to the intricate nature of the control, its area is only deemed to be three metres. This allows for competitors to be penalised for taking the wrong route around the control.

Three metre controls are controls which use such things as the triangular islands you find at road junctions; for instance, crews have to go the long way around them to reach the control correctly. Other features such as farmyards, lay-bys and grassy tracks have also been used. As such things aren't shown on a 1:50,000 OS Map organisers supply navigators with a detailed diagram of the control on the route card.

Secret checks

Secret checks are established chiefly to check on:

• Give Ways (K.13.1.a)
• Unauthorised use of auxiliary lights (K.13.1.d)
• Unauthorised possession of pacenotes, radio equipment and intercom (K.13.1.e)
• Violation of blackspots (K.13.1.h)
• Compliance with Quiet Zones (K.13.2.d)

Secret checks need not be manned for the entire duration of the passage of competitors (K.13.4) and the decision of a Judge of Fact or Driving Standards Observer cannot be appealed against (O.6.1).