Waitomo Rally - Stage Notes

[beeker]

Who's done this before ?

I see they charge an extra $220 for stage notes (on top of the $500 entry fee). Is it worth it ?

[Mr Revhead]

can you drive to notes?

[beeker]

can you drive to notes?

We'll soon find out (assuming i pay the extra). We (me and my nav) have done 1/2 dozen targa's, but thats obviously not full notes.

[fangsport]

Who's done this before ?

I see they charge an extra $220 for stage notes (on top of the $500 entry fee). Is it worth it ?

if you are at the pointy end of the field / class and go well without them, then they could be the difference of a place or 2. they go into far more detail than route book, and once you have deleted the unecessary bits, i'm sure your co-driver can get his head around them.

they will increase your speed, and MAY reduce damage.

[85AW20v]

Last year at Taranaki notes were available but we didn't use them. I was co-driving in an MX5 and there was a another MX5 who did use them and they did beat us - by 30 seconds!! I don't think the $220 was worth it but thats just me. No doubt if you were continuing to use them in other rallies as well you'd get faster as you got used to them. But also be aware that Targa seem to put a lot more into their route book than other organisers!!

I did Waitomo last year with Fred Landon in his AE86 and it was a good rally. We finished 3rd in class even with a clutch problem for the last 4 stages. Uses some Targa roads but not all of them from around there.

[Mr Revhead]

yeah all comes down to how good you are trusting notes.
pays to do recce as well.....

end of the day theres only one way to get good with notes....

[Cahuna]

I didn't bother spending the money on them for the Far North Rally last year and still beat people who did use them, but I know I could have been faster if I had them and knew what the road was like. To me it wasn't worth the money as I didn't care about my result, if you are wanting to give your best performance then you need to run them to level the playing field.

If you are going to use notes then practicing with them is a must, it takes a while to be able to interpret a 4R< into what you see in front of you. Remember they are "safety" notes (not pace notes) that are generated by a computer, so make sure you still keep a slight margin for error. And most of the co-drivers I know go through the notes the night before to check for inconsistencies, remove extraneous info (such as straights of less than 100m are often not worth calling) and highlight notes to call together.

And unless you are doing National Champs stuff you don't get a chance to recce the route with the notes beforehand, your first chance to compare the notes with the road is on the startline for SS1.

[Mr Revhead]

And unless you are doing National Champs stuff you don't get a chance to recce the route with the notes beforehand, your first chance to compare the notes with the road is on the startline for SS1.

oh really? hahha didnt now that, ony ever done one non NZRC rally!

[beeker]

i'm competitive, so have made the call to spend the money.

Lookin fwd to the Waitomo as well as the taranaki 1 days.