Beverley & District Motor Club

A DICTIONARY OF ROAD RALLY TERMINOLOGY

Introduction

This is a small glossary of terminology with road rallying and other club activities.

Dictionary

A

AA abrev. - Automobile Association - a bunch of Very Nice Men, as long as they don’t know you’re on a rally.

all nighter n. - A full length rally, often followed by breakfast.

alloy n. - material used to triple the price of car parts.

AR abrev. - All roads - code meaning "difficult clue"

autotest n. - an organised event designed to test use of the handbrake

B

black ice n. - See moment, stack

Blue book n. - a baroque comedic work in the style of Lear poetry published by MSA

Bowring n. - purveyors of insurance

box n. - a connoisseur’s ninety

bridge n. - a road-reading instruction warning of potential yump or ninety. See moment

Bump stop n. - small rubber object designed to protect MacPherson strut valves and fuel line

C

catch v.t. - to survive a moment as in ‘I caught the first three’.

cattle grid n. - See moment

caution n. - a particularly fine yump the rally organisers have taken pains to point out (Gav!)

closing car n. - sweeps up afterwards

clue n. - navigational rally route instruction, as in "I haven’t got a clue what this means"

code board n. - small temporary road sign hidden in a hedge immediately before a ninety

compass n. -sign of desperate navigator

Cozzie n. - rally prepared Ford Escort or Sierra RS Cosworth. Opposite of scrapper in every sense

crest n. - the top of a hill

CRO abbrev. - Coloured Roads Only - code meaning "nice clue"

D

ditch v.t. - to parallel park a car unexpectedly during a rally

driver n. - incompetent person holding steering wheel

doughnut n. - novel means of ploughing grass with a rear wheel drive car

E

eighty n. - proprietary sobriety cure often sold in pints

ETL abbrev. - Electricity Transmission Line - large metallic twentieth century sculpture erected by Yorkshire Electric to make rally clues harder

excuse n. - means to explain poor result in rally, or ditching or similar manoeuvres

Expert n. - a class in navigational rallies for people who know what they’re doing.

F

fade v.i. - what brakes do when they overheat. See moment

farmer n. - I - Nice man with tractor pulling your care out of a ditch.

2 - Angry owner of the fence you just totalled

farmyard n. - cobbled area not on the rally route, often strewn with mud and cow dung. See moment

flat n. - stage rally instruction, meaning "Keep your right foot flat on the floor"

"Follow that car!" n. - traditional instruction to driver except when car in front navigated by

ford n. - mid-rally car wash

fork n. - Y-shaped junction, as in the instruction "Fork Right Off"

four wheel drift n. - simultaneous understeer and oversteer

G

game pie n. - dish made from a variety of wild animals, often enjoyed by the crew of the closing car

grip n. - See Yokohama

H

hairpin n. - Corner much tighter than a ninety

handbrake 1 n. - Direction changing level found between the front seats, but not on Citroen, Saab or Alfa Romeo cars. 2 v.t. - To make use of the handbrake

hang on n. - instruction to navigator

harness n. - go faster seat belt

hedge n. - Follows hairpin, handbrake, hang-on

herringbone n. - form of rally clue which works on the organiser’s kitchen table but not in your car

hooking n. - making use of the ditch to assist cornering

I

icing n. - what happens to carburettors in cold weather. See excuse

IGR abbrev. - Ignore Gated Roads - code for "bloody hard clue"

insurance n. - overpaid piece of paper

J

jugs n. - Weber DCOE or similar carburettors fitted to cars

K

K-right n. - road reading instruction used by poncey navigators, meaning corner of between 30 and 60° , depending on the navigator’s handwriting

L

Landranger n. - map depicting opportunities for a rally

lay-by n. - place to hide a code board (Ref: Beaver Rally)

left n. - often confused with right. See navigator

lift v.t. - a driving technique

loop n. - bigger place to hide a code board

lose v.t. - 1 - opposite of catch. See moment, excuse

lost n. - state of Peugeot 405’s on rallies

lump hammer n. - precision adjusting too!

M

marshal n. - cold masochist

masochist n. - someone lacking a sense of self preservation. See marshal, navigator

Mintex n. - a means to prevent fade

minute n. - over-optimistic time by which you try to reach the next time control

moment n. - an incident during which the driver has even less control of the car than usual. The name derives from the duration of the incident in the navigator’s reference frame, in the driver’s reference frame it lasts several minutes. See "The Principle of Relativity" by A. Einstein

N

National B n. - hooligan’s certificate

navigator n. - incompetent person clutching a map board

ninety n. - a corner the shape of right-angle. See moment

Non-Expert n. - exactly

not as map/NAM adj. - a type of corner the cartographer has chosen to depict with particular artistic licence. See moment

Novice n. - class of rally competitor provided with easy clues to give the Non-Experts someone to follow

O

off n. - unplanned departure from the road. See ditch

oncoming n. - traffic flow of inconsiderate local residents and Ford Fiestas driving the opposite way to rally route

One-Thirties n. pl. - extremely delicate pieces of wire encased in a glass bulb, which glow brightly for up to ten minutes

OTL abbrev. - Too Damn Late

OS abbrev. - government agency which produces the Landranger series of maps

oversteer n. - a state in which the car tries to ditch itself on the inside of a corner

P

pace car n. - large vehicle, usually white, sporting extremely tacky go- faster stripes, multifarious flashing lights and driven by dour faced gentlemen in navy blue suits

panic n. - standard navigational technique

panic envelope n. - sealed paper container, to be opened only by wimps

passage control n. - NOT the Y reg Sierra with the steamy windows

pendulum n. - poser’s cornering technique

pirouette n. - "handling" characteristic of rear-engined vehicles. See moment

porta-power n. - hydraulically operated precision adjusting tool for large jobs

poti n. - navigator’s essential equipment for fast sections

PR problem n. - Anal-retentive resident of a remote village

Q

quiet zone n. - place where you drive calmly if a driving standards observer is present

R

MSA abbrev. - The Motor Sports Association Ltd - a bunch of money- grabbing legal humorists (allegedly!)

rabbit n. - See game pie

rally car n. - See scrapper

rally route n. - a series of roads marked with dead rabbits

red line n. - point on the tachometer below which the needle should not be allowed to drop

red mist n. - a means to make the car go faster. See ditch

right n. - often confused with left. See navigator

road reading n. - predicting the road ahead from assorted squiggles on the map

rocket fuel n. - a half and half mixture of four star and super unleaded petrol (or Howie’s wine!)

romer n. - a bit of plastic kicking around the floor of the car

S

scrapper n. - a motor car in a similar condition to those found in

sheep n. - game pie target for a larger car

single track n. - a type of road not wide enough for a car and a tractor to pass side by side. See moment, oncoming

skid marks n. - a series of streaks which can be used to judge the quality of a moment, if the driver can be persuaded to part with his/her

underwear

squirrel n. - See game pie

stack v.t. - to perpendicularly part, unexpectedly during a rally

straight line v.t. - to take the "racing line" through a roundabout

sulk v.i. -See navigator

T

tantrum n. - See driver

tightens adj. - navigator’s euphemism. See moment

time control/TC n. - place where the navigator haggles with a marshal for a minute

toe down adj. - proper driving style

U

U-ey n. - a tactical manoeuvre used in situations of navigational uncertainty

understeer n. - a state in which the car tries to ditch itself on the outside of a corner

V

video camera n. - jinx

W

white n. - proper, unsurfaced rally road

WD abbrev. - Wrong Direction - the act of arriving at a time control going the other way, which incurs a penalty

wimps n. -people who suffer from common sense while driving a car

work v.i. - something clues occasionally do

Y

yellow n. - tarmac rally road

Yokohama n. - a Japanese company which manufacturers ingenious transfers used to apply rubber to tarmac

yump 1 n. - a crest on a road specially designed to separate the car’s wheels from the ground. 2 v.t. - to drive a car spiritedly across a yump

Z