What are pace notes?
Pace notes are a rally co-driver's description of the road ahead, read aloud so the driver knows each corner before they can see it. Each note gives the corner's direction and severity — usually a number, such as left 3 — plus the distance to the next corner and anything to watch for, like a crest or a tightening exit.
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How a note is built
The core of every note is the corner: which way it turns and how hard. Severity is a number on a fixed scale, so “right 5” and “right 2” mean very different corners. Between corners the co-driver calls the distance, and modifiers add what the number can't: tightens, opens, long, don't cut, over crest.
Grading systems differ. Some teams number corners 1 to 6, others count the other way or use words; what matters is that the driver and co-driver use the same scale every time.
How they're made
In stage rally, crews drive the stages slowly beforehand in a reconnaissance run and write the notes themselves. In a road app, they can be generated from the road's geometry: the radius of each bend sets its grade, and the notes are read out by voice as you approach.
Pace notes on a public road
On a public road, pace notes are about reading the road, not going faster: knowing that a blind corner tightens, or that a crest hides a bend, makes the drive smoother and safer. Road & Rally grades every corner of a route on the 1–6 scale, where 1 is a hairpin, and calls each one before you reach it.
Questions
- What do the numbers in pace notes mean?
- They grade how sharp a corner is. On a 1–6 scale where 1 is a hairpin, a 6 is a gentle bend you can take nearly flat out and a 1 is a turn you take at a crawl. Some teams reverse the scale, so check which way a system counts.
- Who reads pace notes?
- In a rally, the co-driver reads them aloud over the intercom. In a navigation app, a synthesized voice does the job.
- Is there an app that reads pace notes on normal roads?
- Yes. Road & Rally calls out graded corners on any route you navigate, on iPhone, Android and Apple CarPlay.
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- What is the best app for driving enthusiasts?What a driving enthusiast app should do — find great roads, navigate them with pace notes, record drives and run group drives — and how Road & Rally covers each.
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