Pacenotes
Pacenotes are a description of the rally stage, in shorthand form. This shorthand takes account of corners, speed of approach, distances, bumps, junctions, etc. Prepared by the crew together, these are read by the co-driver to the driver, in advance of each corner or distance, so that he can prepare for the corner to attain maximum speed through it, and therefore the stage. You will also come across Route Notes. This is where the road is described similarly to Pacenotes, but no speed element, or driving lines are introduced. These are generally provided for the whole event, often on events where you are not allowed to recce. The regulations will advise if it is free recce, or controlled recce. This control might take the form of convoy, i.e. the organisers set when you will go through the stages. Or they limit the number of times you can go through the stages, but you can choose when you go. When it is a restricted recce period, and it is advisable to draw up a Recce schedule to ensure you are able to make the most of the time allowed.

Top Tip:Where the recce is limited to certain hours, endeavour to travel between the stages outside of these times, therefore maximising the time on the stages themselves.
Top Tip: Just as a reminder, when you are going through the stages, jot down a small note to remind you of what the stage was like, after 22 stages they will have run into one another in your head. Also this is a good opportunity to plan your tyre requirements for each stage.

Although you could use any kind of note book for making your pacenotes there is no substitute for a professional pacenote book, our Rally Pace Note System has been used by world champions for the past 15 years (click here to have a look). You can subscribe to our Blog to be kept updated with any new videos & tips from top co-drivers. Below are some common Pacenotes Schemes.

Numbers 1 to 9
The number is approximately equal to the bend angle in degrees. (e.g. a "5" is 50°, a "9" is 90°)
Numbers 1 to 6
This is a simplified version of the 1 to 9 system
Numbers 7 to 1
The number is approximately equal to the appropriate gear for each corner
Descriptive
Some of the terms can vary slightly.

Top Tip:Which is the best system of pacenotes? There is no "best" system – it is very much personal preference. Saying that, if you are totally unsure of which system to use, most people find "numbers" systems easier to learn and the 1-9 system is probably the easiest and most common. Note: Many drivers use terms like "plus", "minus", "and" and "into". However, these can mean different things! For example a corner described as "Right 9 plus" may mean the corner is a bit tighter (slower) than a normal R9, or it is a bit faster than a R9. Short distances are usually described as "and" and "into". Some drivers use "and" as a shorter distance than "into" because it is a shorter word; others use "and" as a longer distance that "into" which makes more sense if you consider the meaning of the word. Another difference between notes is so people prefer the corner first, then the severity (e.g. Right 9), others prefer the opposite (e.g. 9 Right). In all these cases, there is no "correct" way. (Although all driver believe that there system of notes is the only sensible scheme and cannot understand how other drivers can use anything different).
Top Tip:It takes a long time to learn how to make good Pacenotes. Practice on roads near your home, although you won’t be able to practice these at full speed (unless you have a test stage). If you are making notes, then you need an appropriate book. Books with paper & bindings designed for the job are available click here, or you can use a note book from your local stationer. Propelling pencils are useful click here, as is a good plastic eraser. When writing notes, aim to get a complete series of notes on one line. Try to avoid splitting corners that are close together over more than one line (or worse, on two pages) as this will make it more difficult to read back.
Top Tip:Try to write your notes as neat as possible during the recce. Some people make rough notes during the day and write up neat versions in the evening. This is time consuming and prone to errors - it is much better if you can get it right first time.
Top Tip:At the bottom of each page, write the next couple of notes that appear at the start of the next page. This means you do not have to stop reading the notes as you turn the page and you can check you have not turned over two pages. Be very careful not to read the note out twice however and watch out for two pages starting with the same note.
Top Tip:Always number the pages in your pace-notes. One way to do this is to number the pages backwards – so if a stage has ten pages of pace-notes, start with page 10 and work backwards so the last page is page 1. Each page of pacenotes is typically just under a mile, so checking the page number will tell you approximately how many miles there are to the end of the stage.
Top Tip:Folding over the corner of every second page is a neat trick to prevent you turning over two pages at once.