Regularity rallying, also known as TSD rallying (Time Speed Distance), is a form of motor sport usually conducted on public roads but sometimes including off-road and track sections. The object of these rallies is to maintain precise times and precise average speeds on various segments of a predefined route. Each team usually consists of an amateur driver and navigator. Teams usually start a regularity rally at fixed intervals creating a field that is spread along the route.
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Regularity rallying shares its origins with most types of rallying. Unlike the well-known 'special stage rallying' (which is commonly just called rallying), regularity rallying does not depend on the abilities of the driver at high-speed nor does it depend on the speed that the vehicle can achieve. For this reason, ordinary motor vehicles can be used. (Regularity rallies are commonly held for classic or even vintage cars, see below.) Regularity rallying, therefore, is a far less expensive sport and can be enjoyed by a far greater spectrum of people. With the commercialisation and increasing competitiveness of special stage rallying, many people have been financially excluded from the sport and have therefore created many cheaper alternatives (see Categories of rallies). The closest motor sport to regularity rallying is road rallying. Unlike a road rally, a regularity rally focuses somewhat more on the maintenance of precise speeds and times rather than on navigation. Navigation does, however, still play an important role in regularity rallying.
A typical regularity rally may run for a few hours or it may run over a series of stages over a few days.
At the start, competitors are usually briefed about the event and may be required to submit their cars for inspection. Each team is given a route schedule prior to departure. This schedule contains information that the navigator will use to try to keep to the specified route and it contains information about the designated speeds and times for each segment of the route. On some rallies, more than one type of schedule may be prepared for different types of competitors.
Once a team is prepared, they will usually start the rally at a specific time unique to them. Along the route, the team will encounter marshals. The position of the marshals is usually not known to the teams. The time at which the team arrives at each marshal is recorded and used in the scoring. In some cases the marshals are hidden from view. Teams may also encounter open sections where they are guaranteed not to encounter marshals and are not subject to any time penalties. There may be various other features along the route including points at which teams must wait for an 'exact time of departure', points at which teams must record their own times, etc.
Every regularity rally should have a deterministic route schedule. This means that the organisers can work out the exact times that should be recorded for each team at all the relevant points along the route. The difference between a team's actual times and the correct times determine their penalties. (Lateness and earliness both attract penalties.) The team with the lowest number of penalties wins.
It is usually possible to compete in a regularity rally using only a car (or sometimes a motorcycle) and a stopwatch, but many regularity rallyists use various devices in an attempt to reduce their total penalties. The rules of each rally determine which devices are permitted. Some common aids include:
Depending on each organization committee the list of navigation aids can be shortened or expanded; In Continental Europe only an electromechanical odometer is allowed, no speedometer, no GPS, no computer, no speed "sequencer".
Often, regularity rallies are held for owners of classic cars. Since regularity rallies do not involve high speed, classic cars are able to participate on an equal footing with other cars. Regularity rallying provides a practical and inexpensive sport for classic car enthusiasts.
Historic Rally Championship is featured in the FIA (Automobile International Federation) championship.
The Monte Shelton Northwest Classic Rally is the longest running classic car rally in North America. It has been held annually in Portland, Oregon since 1988.[1]
In Brazil it began in the early 1950s, when a group of enthusiasts of SEGEL (Sociedade Esportiva e Cultural dos employees of Light) decided to organize a rally in the city of São Paulo. Were evidence much more social than sports. In the background, was calculated by applying the exact meaning of the word English Rally-meeting, friendship. In 1961, was organized the first regional rally championship in São Paulo. Four years later in Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, organized regional Championships. The first national championship took place in 1973.
The worksheet or logbook is a type of map encoded path to be trodden. It counts with all the information about the distances, time and average speed that must be followed throughout the race. It is through the sheet that the browser will direct the pilot. At the rally the sheet is divided into several sections that may be of the following types:
Example of a worksheet used in regularity rally:
| Track | Type | Start Km | End KM | Speed/Time | Start Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | D | 0.000 | 15.783 | 00:25:00 | 00:00:00,00 |
| 2 | S | 0.000 | 0.549 | 48.0 | 00:25:00,00 |
| 3 | S | 0.549 | 1.175 | 54.0 | 00:25:41,17 |
| 4 | S | 1.175 | 1.285 | 30.0 | 00:26:22,90 |
| 5 | S | 1.285 | 1.720 | 33.0 | 00:26:36,10 |
| 6 | N | 0.000 | 0.000 | 00:01:00 | 00:28:36,10 |
In Brazil the most common navigation equipaments are Totem Devices and Nav4Palm software that run over Palm platform. Other software are being developed like Navega Bem for Windows CE, Mobile Rally for Android and rallymeter from gluforange.com for both Android and iPhone. The software usually read totem data files to load the rally tracks to avoid user to manually add data.
"A Competitor's Guide to Open Odo. Regularity Rallying". http://www.crrasa.co.za/what_is_reg_rallying.php. Retrieved 2006-06-02.