Practice Marking a Route

Rally Procedures

Version 11 - March 2, 2019 (in-progress)

Once you've registered, you may LOGIN using your UserName and Password. Currently on the Login screen you have access to the TTRC 2017/2018 Route-Card Rallies, the Crowless 2018 Route-Card Rallies and Real-Time Practice Rallies. Your Login may be restricted subject to the events you have entered.
Click on Login Help for more information.

Depending on the type of rallies you are accessing you will be taken to either a Route-Card Rallies Status or Route-Card/Real-Time Rallies Status page.
There are examples below.

The tools that you use to plot a route are below in the section How to Plot a Route.
Most of the tools are the same for Route-Card or Real-Time Rallies. Differences are highlighted.

When you have plotted a Route-Card route and have submitted it for marking, Route-Card Rallies Results Feedback describes the information that is fed back to you.

Information on how to compete on a Real-Time Rally is shown in Real-Time Rallies Procedures.

You should also study the frequent Questions/Answers page.

Route-Card Rallies Status

Here's an example screen: (This is almost redundant and will be replaced by the Route-Card/Real-Time Rallies Status screen.)

RC#: shows the route card sequence number.

Status: No Data - the route card is not on the system; Not Open - the competition isn't open yet; Available - available and open; In Progress - your solving/plotting in a competition is in-progress; Closed - the competition has closed.

RC Code
The internal code for the route card. For route card setters this will appear as a clickable button.

RC Name
The name of the route card. It may be a clue to the type of plotting required.

ReDo?
Every route card is allowed a number of submissions for marking. A single submission means you plot/amend your route as many times as you like, but can only submit once; in other words you need to get it right first time. Some route cards allow a ReDo where multiple submissions are possible. The feedback that you get (see below) can sometimes pinpoint where you might have made a navigational error.
There are three numbers here a(b)/c. c is the number of submissions allowed; a is the number of submissions used during your current attempt at the route card. When have reached the maximum number of submissions you will no longer to be able to change your route.
After a competiton is over and the results have been published, you will be able to continue your attempts at solving the route card. This will be shown as (b) - see also Plot below.

Route Card/View
When the car icon shows, clicking it will display the route card navigation in a separate window. You will also be able to view the route card when you are plotting the route (see below).

Route Card/Print
When the car icon shows, clicking it will display the route card in a convenient form for printing.

Plot
When the route card is first available to you, a green car will be shown. Clicking this will: enable the View and Print buttons above; start the timer for how long you take to submit your final solution; and the car will turn blue.
Clicking the blue car will take you to the map where you can plot your route. After your first plotting session, the Submit button will appear (see next item) and any hints for the route card will become available (see below).
When you have submitted your route for marking, the car colour will change to: magenta , if you haven't used your submission quota; or red , if you have reached your submission limit.
During a competition, when the car goes red (because you used all your submissions) you will no longer to be able to modify your route.
Once the competition is over and the results have been published, you will have two options to continue. 1) You may keep your original route and reset your submissions to zero. This allows you carry on where you left off in a competition. Your total submissions count (b in ReDo above) will continue to grow. 2) You may start the route card from scratch as though you were seeing it for the first time, however as in 1) your total submission count will continue to grow.

Submit
The green car button will appear after you've plotted your route for the first time. Clicking the button will take you to a form where you can add comments about your plotting or solution, rank the route card on a scale of 1 to 10, and send your solution for automatic marking. Your route will be compared with the master route and you will be taken to the Result Feedback page (see below).
After your final (see ReDo above) submitted solution the car will become red and will not longer be able to edit your route. However, further "free" submissions are possible (your submission count won't advance, nor will your elapsed time solving the route card) to have your solution re-marked n the event of the master route being changed.

Penalty
The penalty from your last submission is shown. You may click here to display in ranked order the penalties from other competitors who have attempted the route card. Ranking is in order of penalties, number of submissions and then elapsed time solving the route card.

Maps/View
When the route card is available you may click on the car icon to display the map you will use to plot your solution.

Maps/Print
This is similar to Maps/View except the whole map will be displayed in a new window. This will allow you to print the map using the print facilities available to your browser and printer. The extent of the map is usually set so that it fits to a 1:50000 paper map scale on a sheet of A4.

Route/Yours
Once you've started a route card, you can view your plotted route by clicking the car icon.

Route/Master
When an event has finished you will be able to view the master route by clicking the car icon. On the master route TCs are shown with a red circle; PCs with a blue circle; and there may be other information markers. Hover over the circles/markers to display the control name/information above the map.

Hints
Some Route Cards may have up to three hints available to help you with a solution or plotting. You may open a hint at any time during your solving/plotting period but will incur the one-off penalty in minutes shown in the hint column. The hints (if more than one) will be progressive in use (Hint 1 before Hint 2 before Hint 3) and information. If you are stuck on solving a Route Card always take the hints since this will give you the satisfaction of being able to submit a solution without incurring a maximum penalty.
To see a hint click the button. You will be asked to confirm your request before continuing.

Your objective is to accurately plot this route on a map and approach and depart the TCs and PCs in the right direction. You'll lose points if you don't visit the controls correctly.

Correctly means:
a) that your plotted route passes through the defined point of the correct location and
b) you visit the points immediately before and after the control, and in the correct order.

You will need to be particularly careful when plotting the route around small loops.

Real-Time/Route-Card/Driving-Test Rallies Status

Here's an example screen:

Leg: The sequence number of the section in the rally.

Status: No Data - the Leg is not on the system; Not Open - the Leg isn't open yet; Available - available and open; In Progress - your solving/plotting in a Leg is in-progress; Closed - the Leg has closed.

RT Code: The internal code for the Leg. For Leg setters this will appear as a clickable button.

Name: The name of the Leg. It may be a clue to the type of route or plotting required.

Type: This will be a Real-Time Rally (Regularity, Road Section, Special Stage), a Route-Card Rally (Plotting) or a Driving Test. Each Real-Time leg will be an entire timed regularity/road section or a special stage. Route-Card will require plotting only with penalties styled in the form of a regularity.
In a competitive event the first attempt penalties on each leg will contribute to overall results.

Plot: A green car will indicate that you haven't yet attempted this leg. Goes will show you are are awaiting attempt 1.
The yellow car on a Plotting Rally shows that you have started plotting but not yet submitted your route for marking. Goes indicates the current attempt number.
The red car means you have completed a Leg. The Goes column shows the number of your next attempt. You may attempt the leg as many times as you like, but only your first attempt will count towards ranked performances or the score in a competition.
The white car will only appear after a Leg has closed and you haven't yet attempted the Leg. It means you may still attempt the Leg but your attempt number will start at #2, so that a #1 does not interfere with competitive results.
Click on the car to take you to the rally map screen.

You/Goes: See above. Where this column's value is 2 or more (or 3 or more if you started a leg after the rally closed) click the dropdown list to select a previous attempt number. Then click your plot car and you will be taken to the normal rally screen in read-only mode, where you will be able to examine the master route, route card and solution, and the route of your previous attempt.

You/Penalty: The penalty incurred at your first attempt.

You/Least: The least penalty incurred across all your attempts. If you click on Penalty or Least value you will be taken to the rankings for that leg. Rankings are ordered by attempt number and then penalty, so priority goes to a competitor's first score on a leg.

Best/Name: The name of the competitor with the best first attempt (#1) score.

Best/Least: The score of the competitor with the best first attempt. If you click on the least value you will be taken to the rankings for that leg. These rankings show the least penalty across all competitors irrespective of the number of attempts.

How to Plot a Map Route

On the Status page, when you click on the car under the Plot column you will be taken to the rally map. What you see on the rally map depends upon on the style of the rally you are attempting: Route-Card or Real-Time. Many of the operations for marking a route are identical. However on a Real-Time rally designated as pre-plot some will not need to be used. Operations which are only applicable to Route-Card Rallies are marked as [P]. Operations which are only applicable to Real-Time Rallies are marked as [R].

Route-Card Rally
If this is the first time you've chosen this option for a route card, the starting point (TC1) will be marked with a small red square . If you are re-visiting, your map position, sizing and route will be displayed from your last saved visit.

Real-Time Rally
You will just see the rally map.

The following are the operations you can carry out on the rally map.

Scale the Map
There are six scales/styles of map when marking a route: At the OS 1:50000 scale view there are two levels of scale. The lowest definition is called ZOS1 and the higher definition ZOS2. (always available)
In the OS Vector District view there are two levels of scale. The lowest definition is called ZDist1 and the higher definition ZDist2. (sometimes available)
At the OS Street View there are also two levels of scale. The lowest definition is called ZStreet1 and the higher definition ZStreet2. (always available)
When solving a Route Card use the detail you see at ZOS2 unless otherwise stated. When marking a route via AutoP(i)lot (see below) ZOS2 will usually be sufficient, but you are recommended to go to a Street View when, taking say, the longest route round a small triangle.
With AutoP(i)lot turned off, ZStreet1 or ZStreet2 is recommended.

Note: Not all of the following screen and keyboard operations work in every browser or on every machine, but at least one of the methods described should work.

There are several ways to scale/style the map.

1) Press the + key on your keyboard to increase the scale; press the - key on your keyboard to reduce the scale.
2) Use the scroll wheel (if you have one) on your mouse. Forwards to increase the scale; backwards to reduce the scale.
3) If you have a touch screen, pinch two fingers together to increase the scale, or move two fingers apart to reduce the scale.
4) Click the Scale/Pan button in the control panel to toggle Off to On: two navigation controls will appear at the top left of the map. The lower control will scale in/out with the +/- buttons, and the vertical slider control will allow you to move through the scale levels. Uncheck the box to remove the controls.

To have the largest plotting area available, maximise your browser window since the map will grow to fit the available space (up to a maximum size of 1350 x 940 pixels). It is also recommended that you run your browser with a single tab for your plotting page for performance and stability.

OS 1:50000 Maps vs. Street View Maps
Occasionally there will be differences between the two types of map:
1) Street View might show triangles at junctions. Mark points on your route before and after the junction and let AP decide the route around the triangle (unless otherwise instructed)
2) Street View might show slight variations in the course of roads particularly at junctions or on white roads. Mark your route to follow the Street View course.
3) Some (usually white) roads may be missing on Street View. Mark your route along the road you see at ZOS2.
Given these anomalies, PCs will never be sited at points where such differences might arise.
4) Some 1:50000 features may be missing on Street View (e.g. Grid Lines, Spot Heights). If you need to mark a point at one of these features, do this at ZOS2.

Area/Extent of the Map
When you have the right scale of map, to change the area that is displayed:

1) Use the keyboard arrow keys to pan (in small increments) left, right, up and down. For larger increments use the keys Home, End, PgUp and PgDn.
2) Position the mouse cursor away from any marked route on the map (see below), Left click and keep the button held down. The mouse cursor will change from an arrow to a cross. Now drag the map into the area you require. Release the button when finished.
Depending upon the sensitivity of your mouse or your steady hand, the start of the dragging operation may sometimes be interpreted as a left-click. If you find that this intrudes on marking the points on your route tick the Freeze checkbox (see below).
3) If you have a touch screen touch the map and drag in any direction.
4) Check the Scale/Pan box in the panel at the top: two navigation controls will appear at the top left of the map. The upper control has clickable arrows to pan (large increments) left, right, up and down. Uncheck the box to remove the controls.

On most browers you can press the F11 key to make a window/tab full screen to give your map a greater work area.

Note: You will not be able to drag the map beyond the boundaries specified for the Route Card.

Marking Points
There are two methods: 1) AutoP(i)lot (AP) and 2) Manual.

AP is an automatic means of joining two points by the shortest* route following roads that have been digitally encoded in Google Maps. It is the default and standard method when you start map marking.

*Note: In built-up areas or areas with difficult/narrow roads, AP will take note of one-way streets or chose quicker/safer roads, which may not be the shortest or intended route.

The Manual method should be used for parts of your route which are not automatically recognised by AP. Typically this might be for tracks and byways (usually white roads) which have not been digitised for use by AP, or possibly to get you across a river where there is no road! The manual method will only be available if any parts of the route require manual marking. You will be advised on the route card and an AutoP(i)lot checkbox will appear allowing you to toggle between AP and Manual.

Marking Points (AP)
Usually map style ZOS2 will be most appropriate to AP your route. It is recommended that you check and adjust your route (if necessary) at map style ZStreet2 to ensure the correct roads and small loops have been followed as required.

You mark a point on the route with a left mouse double-click (but see Click2 below). Your mouse double-click need only be anywhere on the required road since it will be moved to the nearest digitised point on the road. (Note: if you are a bit wayward with your clicking you may end up with a point in a side road or someone's driveway! This is termed an"off-router") A small red square with a dot in the middle will appear. Your first point will already be marked as the Time Control at the start of a section.

Your next and subsequent points should ideally be between each junction (unless the navigation specifies otherwise) on your route. After a short delay, AP will construct (usually) a shortest distance route between each consecutive pair of points. Keep this in mind particularly when taking a route round triangles - you should ensure your points connect the closest sides of the triangle. AP may double back on itself to take a shortest route if you are not precise enough; AP doesn't know that you can't use the same road twice.

Here's an example for illustration. The solid black tramline has been used since this gives a better picture of the route at this map style.
Note the marking at the triangles to force AP the long way round. Also note that in some cases the automatically plotted route between points doesn't appear to follow the roads. This is normal because of the resolution on the OS 1:50000 scale maps. If you go to Street Views you should see that your tramline will usually be close to the centre of the road.

Marking Points (Manually)
Use map style ZStreet2 to manually mark your route. You mark a point on the route with a left mouse double-click (but see Click2 below). Your mouse double-click should be in the middle of the road. A small red square with a dot in the middle will appear. Your first point will already be marked as the Time Control at the start of a section.

Your next and subsequent points should be at the next bend or curvature in the road, and straight "tramlines" will be added to connect the points. The objective is to create a sequence of straight line segments which trace the route as accurately as possible.

Here's an example for illustration. Note the marking at the small triangle before you join the "yellow" road (designating a "B" road at this scale). There could be a Passage Control on the triangle so the clicking has been deliberate to show the roads used and the direction of approach and departure. Generally, if you achieve a marking which covers the road (using the twin grey style of tramline at ZStreet2) you will have no problem in visiting the hidden Controls correctly.

"White" Roads
Because AP (or rather the Google background process) is geared towards public, driveable roads, be precise with your clicking on "white" roads, perhaps when trying to force a shortest route that doesn't use "coloured roads only". Some whites are partially or completely "unclickable". When this is the case - unless you are advised otherwise - treat such roads as out-of-bounds.

Moving points:
Hover the mouse cursor over one of the red squares; click the left button and hold down; drag the square to a new road/roadside position; release the left button. New tramlines are drawn from the previous point and to the next point.
Note: If you don't position exactly over a red square your dragging operation will drag the map instead.

When AP is switched off the two new tramlines will be straight lines joining the points.
With AP switched on, new road following routes will be drawn between the points. Remember that the two new routes will be independently calculated as shortest routes. Depending upon where you drag your point, you may not get the result you expected. Inserting additional points before moving will usually resolve any inconsistencies.

Deleting points:
1) Position your cursor within 200 map metres of a point and right click. DO NOT click ON the point!
2) If right click doesn't work, or you have only a single button mouse: position your cursor within 200 map metres of a point hold down the Ctrl key and left mouse double-click (or single-click if Click2 - see below - is disabled).
3) Click the Delete Mode button in the control panel at the top of the screen. This will toggle the left mouse button clicking from inserting to deleting. Position your cursor within 200 map metres of a point and left mouse double-click (or single-click if Click2 - see below - is disabled). Click the Delete Mode button again to toggle back to inserting.

When AP is switched off a straight tramline will be drawn between the previous and next points.
With AP switched on a new road following the shortest route will be drawn between the previous and next points.

Note: You can't delete or drag the first point (TC1) on a route.

Inserting points:
Position the cursor close to the centre of the tramline where you want to insert a point and left double-click your mouse (but see Click2 below).

When AP is switched off the new point will be placed at the nearest point on your existing route.
With AP switched on the new point will be placed at the nearest intermediate (invisible) AP point on your existing route.

Note: Very occasionally AP will draw a straight line between points ("straight-liner") rather than follow the road. This will occur if the Google Servers are busy or you have a network outage and a pop-up message should highlight the fact. Just wait a few seconds and carry out your operation again. Don't leave "straight-liners" on your map as this may incur missed control or "time" penalties.

Your last point
Continue marking points to the end of the navigation to define the route.

Location Information [P]
In the references panel immediately above the map, the position of the cursor is continuously displayed as an OS Grid Reference (grid lettered 8-digits and a full numeric 12-digits) and as a Latitude and Longitude (with decimal minutes and seconds, minutes and seconds, and decimal degrees).
Note: Location information may be hidden for certain route cards.

Map Marking Information
There are four boxes which will be displayed when you hover over one of your marked points.
East: The OS Grid Easting;
North: The OS Grid Northing;
Points: The sequence number of your marked point/the sequence number of all the points (including the invisible ones between marked points); Distance: The distance in miles of the marked point from the start of the route. Control: Any additional information - this is used mostly for controls and route checks when displaying a route card solution.
Note: Distance may be hidden for certain Route Cards.

Control Panel Buttons

Freeze
A checkbox to prevent dragging the map. See Area of the Map above.

Route
To hide the marker points and tram-lined route click this button. This is useful if you want to see map detail underneath your markings. Click again to re-display.
You can also use the Pause/Break key (if you have one) to do the same thing. Hold down to hide, release to re-display.

Tramlines
The default tramline style (#1) to mark the route is a black outer line with a grey inner. If you want a different style or colour, clicking the button will cycle round a series of 9 different tramlines. Pressing the F2 key will have the same effect on some systems. Your chosen style will be saved for your next plotting session.

Delete Mode
The function of Delete Mode is described above in Deleting Points.

Scale/Pan
The function of the button is described above in Scale the Map and Area/Extent of the Map.

Spy
If you are displaying the map in the highest 1:50000 scale (ZOS2), clicking the button will launch a Magnifying Glass. A kilometre-size empty square will appear top left of the map. Move your mouse pointer to the square, left-click and it will attach itself to the pointer. You can now drag the square across the map and you'll see a x2 version of the clean map (not your tramlines) underneath.
When you have finished magnifying, click the Spy button again.

AutoP(i)lot
This will usually be fixed as On. If manual marking is required at any time (you will be advised on the route card) you will be able to toggle between on and off.

Clicks
The default operation for marking or inserting a point is to double left-click (the button shows 2). This avoids any conflict when dragging the map or dragging existing points which requires a single left-click to start the operation.
However, if you have a steady hand and precise mouse, you may wish is revert to a single left-click (button shows 1) operation for marking or inserting. The Clicks button will toggle between the two values.

Sound [R]
Various sound effects are used in Real-Time Rallies. Click this button to toggle the sounds on/off.

Roamer
If you need to plot map references click the Roamer button and the coordinates below the cursor arrow will be displayed as an OS grid reference (alpha-numeric and full numeric and gridline indicator), a Latitude/Longitude (degrees and decimal minutes, degrees minutes and seconds, decimal degrees) and the What3Words.

Undo
Click to undo your previous map marking operation.

Write
Button initially Off, but can be toggled On. This allows you to "Write" on the map. When On, your route marking will be disabled. Instead a mouse left-click (or double-left-click - see Clicks above) will allow you to place a marker anywhere on the map. Hovering over the marker will show its number and various formats of location information. To delete a marker double-click on it. You will find this useful for marking, say, map references that you wish to pass through or avoid during your plotting. Click the button to return to Off and continue marking your route. Your markers only last for the duration of your plotting session.

East, North, Points, Distance
When you hover over any of your plotted points, the following items will be displayed: full OS grid Easting and Northing; the sequence number of your plotted point and total geocoded points; the distance of your point from the start in miles.

Route-Card Rallies Result Feedback [P]

(This is almost redindant and will be replaced by an equivalent Route-Card/Real-Time Rallies Procedures).

A table will show how well you did in the following columns:

Control:
TC1, the list of undisclosed PCs and TCs

Cumulative Distance - Yours:
Your cumulative route distance to visit the exact location of the control. If no distance is shown you've missed the control.

Cumulative Distance - Ideal:
The master route cumulative distance to each of the controls. By comparing the Ideal with Yours you can gauge how well your marking matches the master route.

Timing Distance - Yours:
TCs only. Your cumulative route distance from the last TC. If no distance is shown you've missed the control.
If you've followed the route correctly your distance should match or very closely match the ideal inter-TC distance (see below). If your distance devates from the ideal by more than 0.0083 miles (equivalent to one second of time) it will be assumed you have wrong-slotted or shortcut the ideal route and will be penalised (see Regulations for how this is calculated). If you missed the previous TC there will be no "time" penalties.

Timing Distance - Ideal:
TCs only. The master route cumulative distance from the last TC.

Your Closest (metres)
How close your route passes to a particular control. If you've followed the correct route, this should be 0. Greater than that and your number will be shown in red and you will be deemed to have missed the control. Missing a PC = 5 marks; missing a TC = 10 marks.

Closest Point -Yours
For information only - your numbered point which was closest to the control. This includes the via points you clicked and the invisible ones between.

Closet Point - Ideal
For information only - the numbered point of the master route where a control was located.

App(roach)
You will approach a control from the right direction if you visit the point immediately prior to the control point. The column will show Y(Yes/Correct) or a red X(Incorrect). Incorrect approach is penalised: PC = 5 marks; TC = 10 marks.

Dep(arture)
You will depart a control in the right direction if you visit the point immediately after to the control point. The column will show Y(Yes/Correct) or a red X(Incorrect). Incorrect departure is penalised: PC = 5 marks; TC = 10 marks.

Penalty
Your penalty at each control highlighted in red. There will be additional penalty rows if you have taken any hints for the route card.

Real-Time/Route-Card Rallies Procedures

See How to plot a route above for a description of the controls to the left of the map.

The Regulations panel for the rally is displayed showing (depending opon the type of rally): type of rally, the number of TCs and PCs, the distance (of the complete route, not to the last TC), the approximate duration to complete the rally (penalty-free) in real-time, whether the rally is pre-plot and a list of information you will see on the map if you enter the rally. You can minimise or maximise the display by clicking on the title, or re-position by dragging outside the title.

Simultaneously displayed is the Enter Rally dialog. Your Attempt number will be shown.

If you have mistakenly arrived here press the No button to return to the Rallies Status page.

If you like what you've read in the Regulations click Yes.

The two sections below describe the subsequent procedures for Real-Time and Route-Card rallies.

Real-Time Rallies

When you click Yes, the Dashboard (with the Attempt #) will be displayed in an overlayed window. This window is displayed for the duration of the rally and can be moved to a more convenient place on the screen. You can minimise or maximise the display by clicking on the title, or re-position by dragging outside the title. The master clock will display the current time. Note initially the Quit button near the top. If you don't want to start the rally now click the button and you will be taken back to the Rally Status page.

Once you click the Start button on the Dashboard:

1) The master clock will count you down to your departure time from TC1, which will be at least a minute away.

2) The Status box will display a commentary during the Leg. The first entry you'll see is your Start Time and OTL (Over Total Lateness) time, which is set as a number of minutes after your scheduled arrival time at the last Time Control. The default is 15. This may be increased when the navigation is not straightforward. If you haven't completed the Rally by this time you will be excluded and given a maximum penalty at all subsequent controls.

3) If the event is pre-plot the (tramlined) route will be displayed. Additional information may be displayed depending upon the parameters set for the event.

You may see the TCs (numbered red markers for Time Controls) or PCs (numbered blue markers for Passage Controls), average speed changes, speed limited sections, speed limited points and hazards. If not, relevant information may be shown in the Route Cards. You won't see SCs (numbered green markers for Secret Checks), which operate exactly the same way as PCs except they are, um, secret!; or CBs (numbered magenta markers for codeboards).

Any Route Cards will use straightforward navigation - the kind that you might see on a UK road rally. There will be nothing that requires Googling of solutions, otherwise you might go OTL before you've left TC1! Route Cards will appear as necessary in a separate window, which can be minimised/maximised/moved like the Regulations and Dashboard displays.

Some routes that require plotting may indicate visually and audibly if you have clicked a point which is not on the intended route. Your route will be checked will be shown in the Regulations.

Most stages will be pre-plot however occasionally the route may be "arrowed" instead. From the start pace notes will appear as Route Card 0 and will show arrows at each junction and other key markers on the route. The arrows will show the direction to take at the next junction(s) (not compass direction): left

, right

or straight on

. The same form of arrowing may also be used on regularity and road rallies too. Additional navigational or route information may be shown using the symbol

4) The Time Card will be displayed in another window. The Time Card can be moved in a similar way to the Dashboard.
On the Time Card you'll see the list of controls to visit, and (on road and stage events) the distance between them and your scheduled arrival time. SCs and CBs, if there are any, will be shown in a separate panel below the final TC.

If you click the Quit button now your rally result will be recorded as Did Not Start.

As the clock ticks down, you will receive audible alerts (yes, the marshal speaks to you!) at 30 seconds, 10 seconds, and then 5-4-3-2-1-Crow. On "Crow", if the route is "plot & dash", Route Card 1 will be displayed. There may be additional route cards as the event proceeds.

The Start button will be disabled. The Quit button will change to Retire. Your classification at this stage will be unknown, so if you close the rally window or click the Retire button your result will be recorded as Unknown Retirement with a maximum penalty.

From this point everything is running in real-time so the rally will require your full concentration. Typically you will need to focus for around 30 minutes. Shut the door to your man/woman cave, turn off your phone, stop other applications running on your computer - after all you wouldn't have such distractions on a real rally. If you need a pee-break this will have to be absorbed in your elapsed time; you can't stop the rally and go back to it later!
You must run the rally in a dedicated window in your browser and stay in that window until you have finished the rally. Swapping between applications during the rally may affect the progress and timing of your car on route.

For a regularity or road rally you may now need to plot the navigation (for the whole rally or at least up to Route Card 2).

For all rallies adhere to the required average speeds/time schedule, and negotiate any hazards or speed restrictions (that you know about).

The car on the map

positioned as TC1, won't move until you have marked your first section of route (if plot & dash navigation) and have set a speed on the Dashboard. If your marked departure from TC1 is in the wrong direction, you will be advised with a pop-up message and your car won't move.
Note: The orientation of the car is fixed and doesn't imply any particular direction of travel.

Crowmer

If you need to plot map references click the Romer button in the control panel. Drag the Romer around the map and the coordinates at the top right corner of the Romer will be displayed as an OS grid reference (alpha-numeric and full numeric and gridline indicator), What3Words and a Latitude/Longitude (degrees and decimal minutes, degrees minutes and seconds, decimal degrees).

You mark a route in the same way as you would on the Route-Card events - see above. Once your car has traversed or is in the process of traversing a section of the correct rally route, it will be locked down. A section is the route between one marker and the next. For example, as soon as you have clicked your first route marker, and the car starts moving, that section is locked and cannot be changed.

Your car will follow the route you have marked on the map irrespective of whether it is the correct rally route. You will know the route is correct as you encounter any undisclosed controls or hazards.

The plotted route ahead of the marked point after the car can be changed (extended, points deleted or points dragged).

If you've marked an incorrect route, you should stop (click the Stop button on the Dashboard) and delete marked points ahead of your car. (The car will automatically stop at the last marked point).
If your car is then on the correct route, click new points and re-start your car.
If your car is not on the correct route, you will need to reverse. When the car is stopped, click the Forward button on the Dashboard and it will change to Reverse. Restart your car and it will travel "backwards" along your marked route. When the car reaches the first correct point on the route it will stop and the direction button will be forced to Forward. You can now delete any other points on the incorrect route, mark a correct route and re-start your car.

Your speed may be increased (+ button) or decreased (- button) in increments of 10, 1 and 0.1 mph. From stationary any + click will immediately set your speed to 20mph The maximum speed on a road or regularity rally is 60mph, and 100mph on a stage rally (you may assume all stage roads are closed to the public!). However, there may be points or sections on the rally where you will be required or forced to maintain a lower speed - see below. You may hit the Stop button at any time to immediately reduce your speed to 0 mph. Your speed change takes effect after your car has moved to the next geocoded point.

Movement of the car is dictated by the geocoded points on your plotted route. Suppose the first point from TC1 is 0.1 miles away. If your set speed is 30 mph this will take 12 seconds. After 12 seconds the car will automatically move to this point. In between, the stopwatches, tripmeters and average speed displays (if configured) will be continuously and proportionally updated.

While your route is ahead of the car, the car will continue to move along the route towards your last plotted point at your designated speed. If the car reaches your last plotted point its speed will drop to zero and will remain stationary until you plot your next point and reset your speed.

Given the required speeds/schedule/restrictions from the route card, you will need to adjust your speed as appropriate.

Regularity Rally
If the first average speed is 25 mph, you might need to set your starting speed to initially be a bit faster because there will be short delay from your departure time while the speed controls are enabled and you adjust your speed.
If you are delayed on route by speed restrictions or hazards you will need to adjust the speed upwards to get back on schedule.
You won't always know where the time controls are located, so your objective will be to keep as close to the required average speed as possible.
Whether you are on schedule or not will be determined by your elapsed time and distance. The Dashboard contains two trip meters and stopwatches. The first pair (Cumulative) run continuously and cannot be reset. The second pair (Section) can be reset together (double-click in the trip or watch display), individually (single-click in the appropriate display), or can be configured to both being reset automatically at a speed change (Reset @ SC) and/or at a TC (Reset @ TC).
There are average speed displays on the Dashboard but these may not always be available, so, like a real regularity section you might need average speed tables to get your timing right.

Road Rally
The schedule is based upon an average speed of 30 mph, but will in reality be slightly less since inter-control times are rounded up to the next whole minute. For example, a TC section of 4.8 miles will have a target time of 10 minutes.
Your objective will be to arrive at the control within 59 seconds of your scheduled time. For example, if your due minute is 22:11:00, then any arrival from 22:10:01 to 22:11:59 will give you a recorded time of 22:11:00. If you arrive in your prior minute you will not be able to depart the TC until your due time. If you arrive more than a minute early at a TC you will automatically be booked in for the next next whole minute.
Earliness or lateness outside the arrival window will be penalised at the rate of 60 marks per minute late and 120 marks per minute early, and the forward time schedule will be automatically updated.
If you have set the section stopwatch to be reset at the TC, the start time of the watch will be set to your booked-in time.
Since there are no relaxed sections there is no penalty-free make up time.
The last TC section of a Road Rally is known as a Selective, and is timed to the nearest second. Any early arrival and you will be booked in at your due time.

Stage Rally
The stage target times are based upon an average speed of 75 mph. There are no speed restrictions on a special stage other than those imposed by the route (see later). Any arrival at a stage finish under the target time will be penalty free.

A technicality about timing
If your car's speed is 30 mph and the next geocoded point is, say, 0.15 miles away, the time to that point should be 18 seconds. Internally a timer is set to wait 18 seconds until the car is moved and timed to arrive at the next point. However due to other parts of the rally software running in parallel and your computer's processing power being diverted to other activities, the timer may lag slightly behind the real-time clock. The lag may only be a few milliseconds per point, but in a section with many points this can add up to a second or more. This is compensated for automatically by measuring the lag and transparently increasing your speed slightly. This does not however get examined for exceeding any route-imposed speed limits. This "Virtual" speed is displayed on your Dashboard for reference.

Time Control/Passage Control/Secret Check Procedure
When your car arrives at a geocoded point which is flagged as a control, there will be an audible alert, your speed will be set to zero and your Time Card will pop up and be automatically marked. At this point you may wish to reset your stopwatch and/or tripmeter. Processing of your time card by the marshal will take a variable amount of time: between 5 and 10 seconds at a PC (not on a Stage Rally) and 10 to 20 seconds at a TC, plus any waiting time for taking the next whole minute on a Road Rally. You will see a countdown in the time card signature box and when processing is complete a signature will appear. While you are waiting the speed controls will be disabled so reset your speed as soon as you have a signature (there will be no audible alert).
At certain controls you may receive additional route information and your route card display will change.

Codeboard Procedure

When you pass a codeboard, the board will pop-up on your rally screen (bottom right). It will contain a codeboard number and a code letter. The codeboard will be displayed for a number of seconds depending upon your current speed using the formula: seconds = 60/speed. So at 60mph the board is displayed for 1 second; at 10mph for 6 seconds. Before the next manned control (TC, PC or SC) you must choose the code letter from the appropriate (match CB number) dropdown list on the Time Card. If you don't or you choose the wrong letter, you will be deemed to have missed the codeboard when it is checked at the next manned control. There is no penalty for approaching or departing a codeboard in the wrong direction.

Rest Halts
Certain TCs may be designated as Rest Halts. They will be flagged with the superscripted value of the rest minutes on the Time Card. Such TCs will be a short distance from the previous TC. Your scheduled departure time from a Rest Halt TC will be your scheduled arrival time at the previous TC plus the rest time rounded up to the next whole minute. Any cumulative lateness at this point, which would be eating into your OTL, will be absorbed in your rest time. If you arrive later than your scheduled departure, your rest time will be forsaken and you will depart on the next whole minute. There are no speed restrictions in the section preceeding a Rest Halt TC.

Speed Limits & Hazards

There is no recognition of real-world speed limits, so exceeding 30mph through a town centre or village will go unnoticed. HOWEVER ...
There are five types of speed restriction or hazards you may encounter:

1)

Single geocoded points may be set where you must reduce your speed to a given limit through that single point. They will usually be shown in advance on the route or will be notified on a route card. These will often be set at the apex of tight bends or junctions. If you exceed the limit you will have an accident and "go off the road" for the number of seconds by which you exceed the speed limit e.g. 50 mph through a 40 mph point and you will be delayed by 10 seconds. You will have to set your speed to get moving again.
If you exceed the limit by 30 mph or more, your accident will be terminal and you will be retired from the rally.

2) Certain sections of route may be designated as speed restricted. When marked on the route the start will be shown like this

and the end like this

. If you exceed the limit when you enter the section there will be an audio warning and an entry added to your status log. There may be officials (DSO - Driving Standards Observers)

checking your speed at one or more subsequent points during the limit. You may be advised visually or via a route card if a DSO has parked within a section. If the DSO detects an infringement, the first time you will be given a warning ("yellow card

on your Dashboard") and will be lectured for x seconds, where x is the greater of your excess speed in mph (rounded down) or 10. The second time you will be given a warning ("orange card

on your Dashboard") and lectured for x seconds, where x is the greater of your excess speed in mph (rounded down) or 20. The third time you will be excluded from the rally.
Because the DSO may not always be present you could take a risk and exceed the limit if you are running behind schedule!
You will need to be vigilant and note when the limit has ended if you want to increase your speed. Watch the status display on the dashboard.

3) There may be incidents on the route

e.g. a puncture, sick navigator/co-driver. Each of these will reduce your speed to zero until the problem is fixed, automatically after a notified number of seconds. You will need to be vigilant and wait until the obstruction disappears before you can increase your speed. These incidents will not normally be notified in advance.

4) You may get baulked on route by another car

in front of you and will have your speed automatically reduced to its speed. When the baulking section is visible on the route the start will be shown as

and the finish as

. Baulking will also finish when you enter a PC or TC. Again be vigilant to increase your speed when the obstruction disappears.

5) Regularity Rally only: This type of marker

shown on the route or speed notified on the route card, specifies the new average speed required from that point. Your current speed won't be affected, but of course you will need to note the average speed for your timing calculations. Watch the Status display on your Dashboard at controls; there may be speed changes notified.

6) There may be Give Ways (GW) signs

when joining a higher class road at a junction. When you reach the GW sign your speed will drop to zero and how long you wait to restart depends on your arrival speed. The time in seconds is your speed/10 and rounded up. So a speed of 28mph will incur a delay of 3 seconds; and 65mph a delay of 7 seconds.

Your Average speed, Maximum Speed and Limited speed at any time are shown on the Dashboard.

NOTE: You have to be VERY VIGILANT when you are approaching speed limit points or sections. You won't know the location of the geocoded point immediately before the speed limit - the ideal point to reduce your speed. Reduce your speed too early and you will lose time. Reduce your speed too late and you could be penalised, excluded or suffer a terminal accident.

End of Rally

The rally will end when you: reach the last TC on route; are excluded for speeding offences; have had an accident; have gone OTL; or have chosen to retire.

A Feedback form will then pop-up requiring comments about the rally and a ranking from 1 to 10.

Clicking the OK btton (active only after entering comments and a ranking) will take you back to the Rallies Status screen and email you a copy of your results.

Route-Card Rallies

When you click Yes, the Mapboard (with the Attempt #) will be displayed in an overlayed window. This window is displayed for the duration of the rally and can be moved to a more convenient place on the screen. You can minimise or maximise the display by clicking on the title, or re-position by dragging outside the title. Note initially the Just Exit button. If you don't want to start the plotting now click the button and you will be taken back to the Rally Status page.

The Route Card will also be displayed in a separate window and can be minimised/maximised/moved like the Regulations and Mapboard displays.
Tip: If you hold down the Ctrl key the dragging operation is suspended so that you use your mouse click to mark and copy/paste the Route Card text.
The navigation will vary from straightforward - the kind that you might see on a UK road rally, up to cryptic which may require some research to decode. There is an example below. The top half shows the navigation and the lower half the solution, which will be shown after you have submitted your route for marking.

Mapboard Controls:

Print Map
Click and the whole map will be displayed in a new window. This will allow you to print the map using the print facilities available to your browser and printer. The extent of the map is usually set so that it fits to a 1:50000 paper map scale on a sheet of A4.

Print RC
Click to display the Route Card in a separate window for printing.

Kill
If you've made a right muck-up of marking your route and would like to start over, the Kill button will remove your route except for the first (TC1) marker. When you click on the button you will need to hold down the Ctrl key. A pop-up question will ask for confirmation before carrying out the kill process.

Hint 1/2/3
Some Route Cards may have up to three hints available to help you with a solution or plotting. You may open a hint at any time during your solving/plotting period but will incur the one-off penalty in minutes shown in the hint column. The hints (if more than one) will be progressive in information; hint 1 will be less revealing than hints 2 and 3. If you are stuck on solving a Route Card always take the hints since this will give you the satisfaction of being able to submit a solution without incurring a maximum penalty.
To see a hint click the button. You will be asked to confirm your request before continuing. Hints already taken will be highlighted in green.

Save
Click this button to periodically save your route and continue plotting.

Save & Exit
Click this button to save your route and return to the Rally Status screen. You can return later to continue plotting.

Just Exit
Exit to the Rally Status screen.

Saving your route [P]
At any point you can save your marked route so far by clicking one of the Save buttons. Your marked map display settings and position will be stored.
Save regularly. You can save as many times as you like before you submit your route for marking.

Before you save your route for the last time go to Street View and look for "off-routers". These are marked points which are just off your intended route down a side road or in someone's drive way. They'll look something like this:
Off Router
Simply drag the marker to the centre of your intended road.
Small imperfections like this may incur a missed PC or timing penalty.

Also eliminate any "straight-liners". See Inserting Points above.Master/(Plotted)
Initially Master will be displayed in red and not be accessible. Once you have submitted your route for marking you will be able to click Master to display the master route and the Route Card solution. The button will change to Plotted and clicking will re-display your own route.

Submit Route
Successive clicks of the button will show/hide the Submit dialog. When you happy with your marked route complete the Comments and Ranking boxes and then press OK to display and email yourself a copy of your results.

A table will show how well you did in the following columns:

Control:
TC1, followed by the list of undisclosed PCs and TCs.

Cumulative Distance - Yours:
Your cumulative route distance to visit the exact location of the control. If no distance is shown you've missed the control.

Cumulative Distance - Ideal:
The master route cumulative distance to each of the controls. By comparing the Ideal with Yours you can gauge how well your marking matches the master route.

Timing Distance - Yours:
TCs only. Your cumulative route distance from the last TC. If no distance is shown you've missed the control.
If you've followed the route correctly your distance should match or very closely match the ideal inter-TC distance (see below). If your distance devates from the ideal by more than 0.0083 miles (equivalent to one second of time) it will be assumed you have wrong-slotted or shortcut the ideal route and will be penalised (see Regulations for how this is calculated). If you missed the previous TC there will be no "time" penalties.

Timing Distance - Ideal:
TCs only. The master route cumulative distance from the last TC.

Your Closest (metres)
How close your route passes to a particular control. If you've followed the correct route, this should be 0. Greater than that and your number will be shown in red and you will be deemed to have missed the control. Missing a PC = 300 marks; missing a TC = 600 marks.

Closest Point -Yours
For information only - your numbered point which was closest to the control. This includes the via points you clicked and the invisible ones between.

Closet Point - Ideal
For information only - the numbered point of the master route where a control was located. If your route is perfect Yours and Ideal should be identical.

Penalty
Your penalty at each control highlighted in red. There will be additional penalty rows if you have taken any hints for the route card.

Total
For reference the total number of points on your route and the master route. This will be greater than the point number of the last TC; the final point being at the end of the navigation (End of Regularity - EoR).
The total penalties are shown in red. If your total penalties exceed 6000 marks they will be capped to 6000 and flagged with an asterisk. Other Information
Your attempt number, comments, rank, and elapsed time will also be shown.

You will also be able to display the above information in the detailed results pages.

Driving Tests

Driving Tests simulate those you might encounter on a real regularity rally.

You are required to follow a marked course in the correct direction without hitting any route-defining obstacles. In this simulation you will need to avoid hitting the red test boundaries, the black internal boundaries and cones.

Navigation around the tests can be by two methods:

1) Bottom centre below the test area is a mouse-clickable arrow pad to control the speed of your car horizontally or vertically. For example, clicking the right arrow will accelerate your car to the right by one unit of speed. Clicking again would change the speed to 2 and so on. Clicking the left arrow will reduce the horizontal speed right by 1 on each click until 0, then the horizontal speed left will increase by 1. The up and down arrows work in a similar way vertically. So, if you needed your car to travel in a south-easterly direction you would set your speed right and down to be the same. The 0 in the middle of the arrows is the brake; click it and both the horizontal and vertical speeds will be set to zero.
2) Use the keyboard arrow keys (dedicated keys on your keyboard or via a numeric pad) to operate in the same way as the on-screen arrows. The shift key is the equivalent of the 0 (brake) above.

The required route is defined by 3 sections: the start, cones, the finish. From the car's starting position move right to cross the green start line (numbered 1) and start the timer. When you have completed your tour around the cones cross the red stop line (the highest numbered) to stop the timer.

Each of the cones has a letter (A, B, C etc.) which dictates the order to be visited. Each cone may show up to four magenta radials: top, right, bottom, left, which will be numbered in sequence. To successfully visit a cone you will need to cross the radials in the correct numerical order. If you miss a cone or visit in the wrong order you will receive a maximum penalty for a "Wrong Test" and your attempt will be over.

During the test if you hit any of the red or black boundaries, 5 seconds will be added to your overall test time for each hit. When you hit a boundary you will bounce away and your car will stop. The bounce distance will increase with increasing speed of impact.

The target time to complete the test is shown bottom left of the test area. This will usually be automatically calculated in seconds as 4 times the number of route lines you need to cross.

If your finish time (which will include your "hit seconds") is less than the target time your penalty will be zero; otherwise your penalty will be the finish time less the target time.

As the test progresses you will see a statistics display bottom right of the test:
Your current Time in seconds; the Distance you have travelled (in screen pixels); Your current X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) Speed and Position; the number of Hits with boundaries or cones; and your penalty so far.

If you just want to examine the test and not start, press the Quit button. This will not count as one of your attempts.

If you have any queries regarding marking a route please post them to the TTR Forum so the answers can be shared with all competitors.