X-Games 12 Rallly Racing - Conspiracy Theory

Keeping PaceLike many new rally fans, we've never really understood what a real rally co-driver does or how the system of pace notes worked. So we asked Christian Edstrom, Travis Pastrana's Subaru USA Rally Team USA Co-Driver to explain:

Since rally stages are run on regular roads, the driver's biggest challenge is dealing with unfamiliar corners, changes to the road surface, jumps and blind crests in the road. In order to drive as fast as possible over the stages, the driver and co-driver make detailed directions of the road, called pace notes, which the co-driver reads to the driver during the race. (For the X-Games, Super Special co-drivers seemed to be reading notes, but were actually either faking it for the cameras or simply shouting out braking and turning points.)

In WRC, pace notes are made during a pre-race reconnaissance event known as "recce" (pronounced rekky). The notes are made while driving over the stage roads, twice, at speeds of 30 to 50 mph. To make the notes, the driver drives the stage road, and describes the road, any hazards, and the correct driving line to the co-driver, while the co-driver writes the notes in short hand in a pace note book. On a second pass, again at low speed, the co-driver reads the notes back to the driver and the driver suggests changes or corrections as needed.

Each driver uses a slightly different system of pace notes, but all systems have common elements. Drivers use either a numeric or descriptive system to describe the corners on a stage. The goal is to have a system that can be read quickly by the co-driver and is easily understood by the driver. Travis and I use a numeric system where a corner is denoted as either a "L" or "R" and has one of 6 degrees of severity, and where distances between corners are given in meters. An R1 is an extremely tight hairpin right corner, possibly driven using the handbrake. Corner degrees can also be adjusted by adding a plus or minus, so at the other extreme, a L6+ is a very fast left hand corner that can be taken flat out. Corners are also described as short, long, or very long, depending on the duration. Additionally, notes will include hazards such as crests, jumps, and dips, cautions, and descriptions of the road surface.-Christian Edstrom

Was It Rigged?Conspiracy theorists on our staff immediately cried foul at the fairy tale ending of rally racing's debut at X-Games 12. The American rookie beating the world champ in front of the home crowd was simply too much to swallow. After all, given the reverse order, McRae was in charge of his destiny with a considerable lead on Pastrana when he entered the Home Depot Center for the last time. Were there team orders to ensure Pastrana's victory? It's not like we haven't seen that before at the highest levels of motorsports (Barichello pulling over to give Schumacher the win at the 2002 Austrian GP comes to mind.) And if anyone has the car control skills to lose in dramatic, yet convincing fashion, it's Colin McRae, right? Or was it simply the prodigious talent of Pastrana and a stroke of bad luck for McRae?