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There are several people on here who are experienced with notes. Try Michael South, and/or JME as a first step.
I've done one event on notes and am no guru, but I guess that means I can offer a not-quite-total-newbie point of view:
Work out a system and stick with it for the whole event.
Make sure the nav takes down exactly what the driver wants - all of the theory in the world means nothing if the notes are 'embelished' by the nav (unless the nav is vastly more experienced on notes than the driver, and really does know better than the driver).
Start timid and work up from there - remember that reccie will be at low speed and you don't want to get 'bitten' by something you didn't see/recognise at 40kph in the recce car...
I'll leave the rest of it up the the people who know what they're talking about.
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I don't know of any really good websites that describe pace notes. Is there anything in particular you needed to know or did you just want an overview of what people use?
Pay Iain Stewart to train you. Or indeed any local person.
The most critical thing as a codriver is not the content - its having a system/equipment to actually write the bloody things.
I currently use 120gsm printed paper thats in glued reams of 100 sheets, with a perspex sheet as a backing writing board - when the notes for a stage are done they go into manilla folders - sepereate for each stage.
Positives of this for me are - the writing system is reasonable enough that I can usually use the notes as written without having to do much if any rewrite, having each stage as a seperate book means they are hepas lighter to hold, dont get all destroyed if it rains and similar issues.
But I suspect your interest was not in the unfortunate life of the codriver :-)
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Andrew Crawford 0402 345 245 - Dilligara Web site updated October 2011
I don't know of any really good websites that describe pace notes. Is there anything in particular you needed to know or did you just want an overview of what people use?
Glen
really im just trying to come up with a starting point for the shakedown rally.
lisi(my codriver) has done mainly noted events in SA where as ive only done about 150klm in testing at hampton and that was pretty basic notes. (just 1-6 and thats about it)
ive heard abit latterly about a marking spots on the dash relative to the steering wheel but not sure how this is used.
i realise that the codriving side is much harder than the driving side but just trying to come up with some pros and cons for what people use so i can develop my own system
Ok, here's my take on pace notes. What I am about to say is my personal opinion of pace notes in general. There's lots of different ideas out there and none of them are wrong.
I think that 1-10 is a really nice system, with 10 being the fastest and 1 a hairpin. It has enough numbers to describe the corners, it's easy to say and it's easy to understand. You need more detail in the grade of the corner for faster stuff than you do tight corners so that's why a 3 in our system is a right angled corner, and we then have seven numbers (4-10) to describe everything faster than that. Everyone gets through a hairpin at pretty much the same speed so there's no real value in have a lot of grades of corner for the really tight stuff. In general terms a 1 is 1st gear, a 2 is second gear, a 3 and a 4 is third gear, a 5, 6, and 7 is fourth, and an 8, 9, and 10 is fifth gear stuff.
I would strongly recommend using a "pace note wheel". This is a circular disc of cardboard that fits onto the steering column behind the steering wheel. You then have an arrow fitted to the top of the steering wheel boss that points at the pace note wheel. You mark up the pace note wheel with the grades for the corners and then on recce you just look down at the arrow and it tells you what grade the corner is. It takes all of the subjectivity out of the calls and on your second pass over the stage you can add detail to the notes rather than working out if the corner grade is right. The notes become very consistent which is the key to not having a big crash.
Here's a blank one that you can fill in with your own grades. http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/1...oughnut9ws.jpg
Cut the centre out of it and then cut the vertical line at 6 o'clock. You can then slip it behind the steering wheel and blu-tack it onto the sterring column housing. Drive down a piece of road and start to think about what grade each corner is. When you have an idea of what you want to call the corner then write it on the wheel in pencil. It will take a little bit of mucking around until you are happy. Each grade will be like a wedge of pie on the wheel. Remember that you may have to change the wheel if you recce in different cars that have different steering ratios.
I have the above image as a PowerPoint file that prints out at about the right size. The forum won't let me upload a ppt file though. If anyone wants it send me a PM.
You can do the same thing with tape on the instrument binacle and tape at 12 o'clock on your steering wheel. It's not as good though as the instrument binacles often aren't symmetrical and you get parallax error especially with the tighter corners.
Our first pass over the stage is pretty slow at around 40 km/hr or so. We basically drive down the centre of the road and don't take "racing lines". On the second pass through we add detail to the notes but rarely change the grade of the corner.
I like the idea of having the number before the direction. It works really well as the entry speed into the corner is critical and getting this right first is important before you try and turn it in.
Try and be concise with your descriptions too. It can be hard to get a long call out in time if the car going quickly. It's a good idea to go out and practice pace noting with your co-driver also. I learnt to call notes in 1998 with John Goasdoue. We wrote a set of notes for a winding tourist drive on the outskirts of Brisbane (Mt Glorious) and went up there early on a Sunday morning about half a dozen times to get the idea of calling sorted out. We didn't speed much at all, but it was a really good learning tool.
I make my own pace note books. I have a blank pace note sheet in MS Word that I print out before a rally. I then bought a small binding machine from OfficeWorks which punches holes in the edge of the paper and then lets you hold it together with a plastic binding comb. I have a clear front cover and cardboard rear cover. It works really well as you can disassemble the notes to rearrange the stages or use sections out of a previous year's event. The blank document is below. I just use normal Reflex paper. My preferred pencil is a Mars propelling pencil with HB lead. It is the thick lead draftsman style pencil. The lead is about 3 mm thick so it doesn't break on you when writing and bouncing about at the same time. I have tried the darker leads like 2b but they don't rub out as nicely. Pace Notes.doc
I usually put the itinery, stage maps and a time sheet in the front of the notes as well. Here's a copy of the one I used for Bathurst last year. Time Sheet Bathurst 2005.doc
The top line (shaded in grey) is for the stage time. The line below is the total time, and the third line is the time difference to the overall first place.
I think a good place to start. I'll add a bit more as this thread progresses.
Pacenoting isn't something you learn overnight... it's more like a journey.
We used 1-10 pacenote wheels which we attach to the steering wheel to generate the numbers... Left/Right is self explanatary.... Brows and Crests then distance, and the base note builds fairly quickly and easily with a bit of practice.
Put a blank cardboard circle inside the steering wheel of your "everyday" car.... blu-tack a texta to the dash, and drive around scribbling on it- try to define the differing corners by moving the marks between numbers- after a week you'll understand the theory of the 1/10 system, then grab your co-driver and pacenote the roads to work, to the shops, to ballet practice etc
When you've got that nutted out, go up and pacenote Watagan Rd, or Middle Ridge, Prickly etc- they are relatively easy roads to pacenote.
Then do shakedown rally... your notes won't be as good as the ones Goldy and Dale write simply cause it takes time, experience and practice etc to get good at it- but they'll do the job and the next rally they'll be better again.
The thing which I believe most people who haven't had much pacenote experience fail to understand completely is the "evolution" that needs to occur to write good notes.
It's a bit of a black art, and guys like Glen/Scott etc who have worked with notes over a long period of time regularly, have developed ways and means to generate speed- that you can't tap into without the on-event experience.
I'm one of those drivers that uses the descriptive system rather than a numerical one. This came about I guess mainly because the driver who I spent the most time codriving and reading pacenotes to (Mo) used that system, albeit in Arabic. It has some advantages and some disadvantages when compared to the 1-6 or 1-10 methods. The biggest disadvantage is that it is more talking per call, and when there are several calls called together it can be difficult for the codriver to get the call out in time. The advantage that some drivers find with the descriptive system is that it cuts down the mental information processing time - they don't have to convert a number into a corner grade or speed - this processing step is already done for them. Drivers who suffer from things like minor dyslexia etc find this to be particularly useful.
I've just recently written up a guide to my pacenoting system for my new codriver. It's a bit rambly, but it does include a lot of useful information. Most of it apart from the pacenote wheel are copied below - hope it helps - feel free to comment or criticise anyone
Page 1 is a guide that I tape to the dash board when out writing pacenotes. It has all of our corner descriptions marked, and has just about all the words that I use in my pacenotes written around the edge to act as an aide memoir should I be stuck for a description to suit a particular corner or series of corners.
Here’s a few explanatory notes about how I have my notes –
Firstly the codes for the corners – right corners shown in order of degree of severity – least severe first through to most severe - AR, FR, ER, MR, SqR, HR, VHR, HpinR (substitute ‘L’ in place of ‘R’ for left corners)
The distance to a corner or feature is always written and read before describing what is there – eg “200 Easy Right then 80 Absolute Right” written as “200 ER then 80 AR” never call “Easy Right 200 then Absolute Right 80”
The severity of the corner is always written and read before the direction – eg “Easy Right” not “Right Easy”.
Where one corner is right after another the word “into” is used to link them together – eg “Fast Right into Easy Left” written as “FR into EL”
Where one corner is 10 to 90 metres after the previous corner the word “then” and the distance is used to link them together eg “Fast Right then 70 Easy Left” written as “FR then 70 EL”
As always underline calls that are to be read together.
The additional descriptors “Opens”, “Tightens”, “Really Tightens”, “Narrows”, “Long”, “Very Long”, “Don’t Cut!”, “Hard to See”, “Comes Up Fast!”, “Rough”, “Slippery” are all added after the direction is written and read – eg “Fast Left Tightens Narrows”. Always add extra emphasis to “Don’t Cut!” and “Comes Up Fast!”. NEVER EVER add extra detail to the “Tightens” calls – eg never say “Fast Left Tightens to Easy Left” – is that one corner that tightens up from Fast Left to Easy Left?... or is it a Fast Left that Tightens followed by an Easy Left? Best to avoid the confusion. “Don’t Cut” is always written in full to avoid confusion as ‘C’ stands for Crest. “Rough” is also always written in full to avoid confusion with Right. “Comes Up Fast” and “Slippery” are always written in full. Words written in full are usually written in all lower case to help avoid any confusion. Other abbreviations are
O – Opens
T – Tightens
ReallyT – Really Tightens
N – Narrows
Long is always written as long to avoid confusion with Left
Vlong (with a small L again to avoid confusion) – Very Long
HTS – Hard to See (never substitute C for See to avoid confusion with crest)
Junctions are always read in the following manner –
“Junction! Turn Easy Right”. Sometimes I will add in “OMG” which stands for “Off Main Gravel” meaning we are turning off the main road we are travelling on onto another road – eg “Junction! Turn Square Left Off Main Gravel”. Would be written as “J! TSqL OMG” in the instructions.
T Junctions are always read as “T Junction – Turn Square Left” as overshooting T junctions can have much more serious consequences than overshooting a crossroads. Written as “TJ” in the instructions
Bridges are written into the notes as ] [ , a narrow bridge is ]N[
A crest “C” is just a small crest in the road
An absolute crest “AC” is a blind crest in the road that we have decided it is safe to take at maximum (warp) speed
A jump “J” is a crest where we are going to get airborne
A big jump “BJ” is a bloody big crest where we will get seriously airborne
On Crest “OC” means that something happens on crest – eg “Easy Right on Crest” written as “ER OC”
Over Crest “/C” means that something happens to the road just after the crest – eg “Fast Left over Crest – Don’t Cut!” written as “FL /C Don’t Cut!”
!Caution, !!Double Caution, !!!Triple Caution are all just fitted in to calls as appropriate – some examples “Fast Left into Fast Right then 70 T Junction! Turn Square Left – Double Caution Big Hole on Outside” – written as “FL into FR then 70 TJ TSqL !!big hole on outside”. “200 !!Double Caution Hard Right on Crest” – written as “200 !!HR OC”
At the start of each line I like to have the distance from the stage start in case we lose place in the notes – the tripmeter can then be used to quickly locate our place again, and at the end of each line I like to have the distance to the end of the stage in case we puncture so as we can quickly know how far we have to go in case we get a puncture – do we stop or do we drive on?
One final thing – I never ever want to be told where the spectators points are – not on the rally, not even during recce!
One's from the SCCA site. It looks like they produce a standard set of notes, so they have to write something that works for everyone, so doesn't work 100% for anyone.
Not sure where I found the second one (I think Tort may even have thrown it into the mix last year???), but I'm sure it's been reproduced in a number of places before. If the mods aren't happy about attaching from an unknown source, I'm happy to be moderated.
Liz Swanton's article (attached earlier) was particularly useful to us, because it allowed us to see the different methods over the same piece of road.
We used a 1-6 (with 6 flat-out) system at Bathurst last year. It was our first rally on notes, so we thought we'd keep it fairly basic. We found that there was sufficient information about the corner only when we added +/- to the numbers. It's a personal preference thing. A 5- in our system would be about the same as a 7 or 8 in Glen's system.
I had tried a 6-1 system at a rallysprint before, but found that it was counter-intuitive. It's easier to translate a bigger number into faster speed than it is to translate it into a slower speed.
Another personal preference thing is the order of the call. I prefer to know which direction the corner goes before the grade. It just makes more sense to me. I think it's because once I know where it's going, I can start to pick where the corner is (but we're not approaching the corner at anywhere near the speed of the top teams).
The third attachment is a rough guide to our numbering system. It's what we used to get an idea before the event. As with any concept, it evolved as we went through the event.
If you've got the time, practice, practice practice. We spent a lot of nights going through Jo's shorthand, so that she could memorise the various squiggles. What we didn't practice was translating the theory into reality, and it showed in the notes for the first few stages. The concept of finding a winding road and driving it lots of times is a good one.
I learnt to call notes in 1998 with John Goasdoue. We wrote a set of notes for a winding tourist drive on the outskirts of Brisbane (Mt Glorious) and went up there early on a Sunday morning about half a dozen times to get the idea of calling sorted out. We didn't speed much at all, but it was a really good learning tool.
So that was you running us fine warp speed motorcyclists off the road
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Andrew Crawford 0402 345 245 - Dilligara Web site updated October 2011
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