Learning: Co-Driving

Rally is unique in motor sports, in that you have a Co-driver sitting next to you feeding you information on the course as you go. By following a set of notes created prior to the race the Co-driver attempts to give the driver a clear view of the stage ahead of their current location.

Travis Pastrana Mt. Washington

The J-turn Scion Xd

All About Co-driving

Moab 2014: First Rallycross

Photo by Randy Bolen

For me my Rallycross experience began the night before. I had to get all my stuff packed and my car prepped as best as I knew how at the time. The event was being put on by Utah Rally Group(URG) and was out in the desert about 25 Minutes from the nearest town. For me this meant if I didn't bring it it wouldn't be there. The only exception was some food being provided by event organizers for a small fee, that was a no brainier for me and I hopped on board with it.

Photo by Randy Bolen

The morning of the Rallycross I woke up early around 430 so I could get on the road and make it in time to get checked in and go through Tech. Normally waking up that early would have had me dragging but I was feeling wired with excitement. I was excited to meet new people, I was excited to find a new hobby, mostly I was excited to be told to go as fast as possible. My only worry was getting lost on the way down there and missing out after a 3 hour drive. Luckily even though it was in the middle of the desert it was easy enough to find.

Pulling up and seeing all the cars made me even more excited. I have no problem admitting I have a soft spot for Subaru especially the Imprezza WRX/STI's, and they were every where. Feeling slightly out match I had to remind myself we would be broken up into classes and I would most likely just be watching the Subaru's not competing with them. I picked a spot and parked my little Scion xD.

Once I was parked I just sat for a minute before getting out of the car. Finally I got out and started talking to the guys who were standing around. I got a quick breakfast before talking with a couple of the more experienced guys. They got me pretty lined out so I would be ready to go for the Tech inspection. pretty much everything had to come out of the car including the spare tire.

After Tech we had a quick drivers meeting and got cars rolling. The Modified class was first to go which meant I was out working on the course. It was awesome to watch cars fly by and be able to see the driver in the car working to stay in control and keep going right where they wanted. I got more and more excited each time a car would come past. Then I started to see ruts developing as the ground got more and more tore up. As the Modified cars started to really have to work to make it around the course I started to get worried. Would my little xD even be able to make it around?

Photo by Randy Bolen

Pretty soon we were called in from our stations on the track and told to get our cars ready to go.I just followed the lead of the guys around me. Warming up my car, getting me helmet on, checking camera alignment, and finally getting in line to do a parade lap.


My first few laps were nothing to write home about. I was still trying to learn what my car could and couldn't do as well as figure out how to get grip on the loose dirt. Eventually though things started to come together. That's not to say I had amazing lap times but I was improving my times each lap. Surprisingly my little xD wasn't doing half bad. If I could get the right lines it would hook up when I needed and even slide around and be fun some times.

After a short break and lunch we started the afternoon runs. The course had been adjusted to keep things interesting and avoid ruts that were developing. As the afternoon went on I got a tiny glimpse in the world of stage rally. It seemed like in between each run the course had to be adjusted because the loose soil was getting more and more rutted. This meant that instead of knowing what turn was coming next I had to be looking a head for pointer cones and ignore the old tracks that had be worn into the ground. After every one had their four runs we shut down till dark.

Photo by Randy Bolen

After dinner and night fall we started up again. During the day it had been relatively easy to see each cone and tell where we should be headed, in the dark though everything was different. If the cones were to far one way or the other they were hard to pick out, on top of that dust became a curtain blocking vision. A couple times I came out of a turn with zero visibility due to the dust in the air. This meant making a guess based on my memory of the course from a previous run. A couple times I guessed wrong and turned early completely missing a gate.

Over all my first Rallycross experience was awesome. A few things I'd change but nothing major. Something to set all the stuff from my car in, a way to store some small stuff down by the course, just little things like that. Also something I hope to remember, Cone penalties add up quickly. Hopefully I'll be able to find something a little more suited for Rallycross but for now the xD is going to have to do. 

Photos by Randy Bolen