WRC rally-winner Daniel Barritt gives Motor Sport a crash course in navigating, ahead of Wales Rally GB
When it comes to the big names of rallying, drivers rightly claim most of the attention. But next to every great rally driver is a navigator, barking out details of the route ahead.
It’s an overlooked area of motor sport, with real skill required to read pace notes at the perfect moment, keep an eye on the route ahead and valiantly avoid travel sickness.
Navigators also need an unspoken understanding with the driver.
So Motor Sport’s partnership with Tony Jardine to enter this weekend’s Wales Rally GB could be seen as brave, naive or simply foolhardy.
Dominic Tobin, Motor Sport’s digital editor, has no experience as a co-driver and, four weeks ago, began training from scratch.
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Fortunately, help was at hand in the form of Daniel Barritt, winner of the 2017 Wales Rally GB alongside Elfyn Evans, and one of Britain’s top co-drivers.
In a one-day crash course, Barritt shared the secrets of successful navigating — as much about getting to each stage within the strict time limits, as it is about the pace notes themselves.
Since then Tobin has been busy practising in Motor Sport’s own navigation simulator (reading pace notes in front of a laptop with stage videos).
How successful he’s been will be revealed tomorrow when the National Rally begins.
Until then, watch the video above for a whistlestop guide on becoming a rally navigator.
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