Time Card Drill™

Time Card Drill study guide

Everything the practice rounds and exams test, in the order a car meets you. Each section names the rules behind it so you can look them up in the 2026 Rally Competition Rules (RCR). Reading it takes about 20 minutes. It isn't required, but it covers every answer the exams look for.

Words you'll hear

Stage signs

Time control warningYellow clock. The control zone starts here; a time control is ahead.25–50 m before the red clock

Time controlRed clock. The time control, where the card is timed.50–200 m before the start

Stage startRed sign, black flag. The start line of the stage.End of control zone 25–50 m after it

End of control zoneBeige, three black stripes. The control zone ends here.After the start, and after the stop

Danger signYellow, "DANGER!" with a black dot. Warns of a hazard.On the stage

Radio warning pointYellow, lightning arrow. A radio point is ahead.About 100 m before the radio point

Radio pointBlue, lightning arrow. The radio is here; crews stop here to report.On the stage

Medical point warningYellow, white cross. A medical point is ahead.About 100 m before the medical point

Medical pointBlue, white cross. Medical crew here. Medical points always include a radio point.On the stage

Flying finish warningYellow, chequered flag. The flying finish is ahead.100–200 m before the flying finish

Stage flying finishRed, chequered flag. The stage time stops here. No stopping between here and the stop.End of the stage

Post finish warning boardsWhite boards with three, two, then one blue stripe, counting down to the stop.Between the flying finish and the stop

Stop controlRed, STOP. Crews stop here for their finish time.Usually 200–500 m after the flying finish

Signs and distances are from the ARA Stage Sign Setup sheet; distances are approximate. Your event's sign plan comes first.

1. Your job, in one line

Write the right time in the right box, log it, and nothing else. You never work out a driver and co-driver's due time, tell them they're early or late, apply a penalty, or decide whether they're over a limit. Scoring and officials do that from what you wrote.

• Only the appropriate marshal writes times on a card. The driver and co-driver never write in the white boxes (5.2.4(b)).
• Besides the time, the only thing you may add is a sequence number, if the event uses them (5.3.5).
• Never give the driver and co-driver target times or say whether they're early or late. That's their job alone (4.1.6).
• Record a time for every car, even one that looks far too late. Marshals don't judge lateness or earliness limits (5.5.2).
• Log every car number and time on your control sheet. Your log is the evidence if anything is questioned (5.3.6, 6.6).

2. Signs and the control area

• Every control area runs from a yellow warning sign to a red control sign, then ends at a beige sign (4.1.1).
• Drivers and co-drivers may not stop between the yellow and the red sign, unless cars ahead block the way. You report it; you don't penalize (5.3.2, 5.3.15).
• Entering the control zone during the minute before the car's target minute carries no penalty. Entering more than a minute early breaks the check-in procedure. If the car stops at your table to wait, time them in now at the actual time (scoring treats it as early) and log it as an early entry; the senior marshal reports it (5.3.2, 5.3.10, 5.3.12, 5.3.15).
• Parc fermé rules apply in the control area from entry to exit: no repairs, no assistance, no refueling, hoods closed unless an official says otherwise (4.12.3, 4.1.4(a)).
• No reversing in a control area unless a marshal or official directs it (4.1.4(b)). Drivers and co-drivers must let organizers move their car when needed (4.1.8).
• Only food, drink and information may be passed to drivers and co-drivers waiting at a control into service or a regroup. Tools and parts count as service (7.1.7).
• Keep the control area clear of spectators and anyone not doing control work (4.1.5).

3. The time card

• White boxes are Control Use. Only the marshal at that control writes there. Shaded boxes are Competitor Use, for the driver and co-driver's own math. Never write in them.
• Each stage block runs left to right as the car meets you: arrival control time in, ideal start, actual start, finish.
• Lateness and Transit are pre-printed minutes. The driver and co-driver use them to work out their time out and their due time at the next control.
• If the card and the route book disagree on times, the card wins (5.2.1).
• The card must be handed in at every control, including the final one (5.2.5).
• Card corrections: if you agree you misread, correct it, initial next to it, and fix your log. If you're sure you were right, the card stands and you note the disagreement on your log (5.3.7). A correction not approved by a marshal or official is referred to the Stewards (5.2.4(c), Bulletin 2026-11).
• Never touch another control's entry. If you see an altered card, record your own time and report what you saw.

4. Telling the time

• The check-in time is the moment you touch the card, not when the car stopped (5.3.4).
• Transit controls are timed in hours and minutes. Seconds are dropped: the minute runs from :00 to :59 (5.1.1(b)). A card touched at 10:14:59.8 is 10:14.
• Stage finishes are timed to the second and tenth (5.12.1). Write the zero tenth too: 10:49:30.0.
• Use 24-hour time. Every control clock is synchronized to official rally time, and controls carry a synced backup (5.1.1(a)).
• At events using RallySafe, the time shown on the unit is the official time (Bulletin 2026-3).
• At every control, the arrival time is also the departure time, unless a later departure is recorded, as at service or a regroup (5.1.1(d)).
• If the driver or co-driver doubts your clock, the card still gets your clock's time. Record the time they asked for on your log only (5.3.8).

5. Arrival control (ATC)

1. Touch the card: write the time in, hours and minutes (4.4.1, 5.3.4).
2. Write the ideal start: at least 3 minutes after check-in, and no earlier than the next free start minute (4.4.2, 5.4.2(c)).
3. Add a sequence number if the event uses them (5.3.5).
4. Copy the car number, time in and ideal start onto your log.

• Two cars on one minute start in the order they reached the previous time control, not the order they handed you cards (5.4.2(b)).
• Seeded cars may need 2-minute gaps between starts (1.3, 4.4.2, supplementary regulations). Use the larger of check-in plus 3 and the gap.
• Cars backed up: if cars ahead block a car from reaching you, the driver or co-driver may bring the card on foot, and it's timed when you touch it (5.3.1, 5.3.3). Otherwise the car, driver and co-driver must all be in the control area.
• Early or late cars get the same treatment: the time you touched the card. You can't move a time to help anyone (5.3.12).
• After an observation control, the next due time is worked out as if that control wasn't there (4.7.2).
• Either the driver or the co-driver may drive unless the event says otherwise (2.1.1). Passengers aren't allowed (2.1.2).

6. Stage start

1. Write the actual start: the car's scheduled minute, copied from the ideal start. Not when it arrived at the line (4.5, 5.4.3).
2. Hand the card back and count down: 30, 15, 10, then 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. The car leaves at the :00 second of its minute (5.12.3). An electronic countdown may replace the spoken one; you still write the scheduled minute.

• Driver and co-driver not ready (their fault): they get the next free minute. The penalty, 1 minute per minute late, comes from scoring (5.12.5).
• Jumped start: wheels moving before the signal. The start marshal reports the time the car began moving; officials apply the penalty. Never chase or restart a car (5.12.6).
• Holding the start: the marshal may delay a start only for force majeure, such as an incident on stage. No lateness penalty applies, and the queue restarts in order (5.12.4). The driver and co-driver can't ask for a gap, but adjacent cars may swap (5.4.6).
• Swaps: the first car checks in on its minute and asks; the second car must enter on its own minute, gear on and ready to start. If it isn't ready, there's no swap (5.4.6).
• Safety gear: helmets, head-and-neck restraints and harnesses fastened before the start. A minute lost fixing it is the driver and co-driver's late start (4.5.1).
• Car dies on the line: it must not delay the next car. The driver and co-driver must let organizers move the car (5.12.3(b), 4.1.8).
• No time card through the driver and co-driver's fault: referred to the Stewards (5.12.10(a), Bulletin 2026-11). Escalate; don't improvise a card.
• Window open more than 2 inches without a net is an improper procedure infraction. Report it in writing (6.4.5).
• RallySafe unit dark: it must be powered and active at all times. Raise it before the car leaves (Bulletin 2026-3).

Media at the stage start

For every vest

• In place before the 00 car passes. Off the stage road from 00 until the green-light sweep.
• Never in a red-taped area. Yellow tape isn't a guarantee of safety either.
• Keep off the outside of corners and jump landings, work from behind something solid, and keep an escape route.
• ARA, event officials and marshals have the final say on where media stand. Media move without discussion when asked. Course opening cars can remove media from a stage.
• Anyone breaking the safety rules is removed at once. If a media member's actions cancel or delay a stage, they and their outlet face a two-year ban from ARA events.

At the start control

• A blue vest hands their Stage Access form to the start or stage captain. If they give it to you, pass it to your captain; it isn't a time card.
• They go in before 00, straight to the shooting spot set before the event.
• After 00, no one goes in, media included.
• A red vest asking to go in from the start: no. Red vests work only from spectator locations or event-approved spots.

Source: ARA 2026 Media Policy and Accreditation Procedure; LSPR 2026 Marshal / Spectator Captain Handbook.

7. Flying finish and stop control

• The stage time is taken at the flying finish line. The flying finish crew writes each car and its time, then radios them to the stop control (4.6, 5.12.7).
• At the stop, write the flying finish time, hours, minutes, seconds and tenths, not the time the car reached you (5.12.8). Log the same time. If two cars are close, match times to car numbers, not to the order they arrive; ask flying finish to repeat if in doubt.
• If timing can't give the exact finish yet, mark the card only; the time is entered at the next neutralization or regroup (5.12.8).
• Drivers and co-drivers may not stop between the red flying finish sign and the stop sign unless physically blocked. It's referred to the Stewards (5.12.9, Bulletin 2026-11). The stage time still comes from the flying finish.
• Card lost on stage through the driver and co-driver's fault: log the finish as usual. The penalty is 5 minutes, applied by officials (5.12.10(b)).
• Never work out the driver and co-driver's time out. After a stage they add the longer of the lateness time or their stage time (in whole minutes) to their start, in the shaded box (5.3.9).
• Driver and co-driver held up by a car that wouldn't let them by: record and pass it on. The Clerk may grant time (5.17).
• SOS or a car off reported at your stop: pass it to radio immediately (5.15.9). A triangle left out on stage must be reported, since drivers and co-drivers must recover theirs (5.15.7).

Blocking the start and finish

The finish exit matters most: anyone who gets in there meets the rally cars head-on. Even a minute's delay gives the Stage Captain time to warn the stage or stop it.

From the ARA guide

• A physical roadblock, chicane or barricade goes at the start and finish ends of every stage. Two vehicles staggered as a narrow block, so only a competitor can pass, works well.
• At least one marshal or blocker in a vehicle stays with it, moving ahead or back to let competitors through and blocking anyone else.
• At least one marshal or blocker at each closure must have clear radio contact with their control radio. That matters most at the finish, which faces oncoming traffic.
• At the start, the sweep team in the control zone can do the blocking. The finish has no sweep staff, so it needs an extra blocker with a vehicle and radio. Unoccupied staff vehicles at the ATC, start or FTC can be used.
• Landowner or forestry gates near the start or finish can be staffed by a radio operator and opened only for approved rally traffic.
• Ideally the block is where the stage road leaves the public road.
• Even a minute or two of delay lets the stage captain close a chicane, warn the stage, or stop it with an SOS. Every radio point needs to know the SOS stoppage procedure.

Source: ARA Typical Blocker Positioning, V2.0 (January 2025): Stage Start Entry, Stage Finish Exit, and Stage integrity at Start and Finish.

8. MTC, regroup, service and parc fermé

• Start-of-leg MTC: drivers and co-drivers present in starting order and leave on their assigned minute. Write the start-list time (4.3.1). Within 15 minutes late, write the exact time they start; more than 15 minutes late after parc fermé and they can't start (4.12.6).
• End-of-leg MTC: drivers and co-drivers may check in early with no penalty. Write the actual time, never their due time (4.3.2, 5.3.14).
• Regroup: write the time in, give the driver and co-driver their starting time, and they drive straight to the holding area. The assigned time out counts, not how long they sat (4.8, 5.9.1, 5.9.2). Reseeded orders release cars in list order, one minute apart unless the event says otherwise.
• Service: time out is the actual time in plus the service length, whether the car was early or late (5.1.1(d), 5.7).
• Technical zone: a car can't leave until checks are done, and its regroup out time isn't adjusted. One service crew member may help, only as directed (5.10.1).
• Parc fermé: drivers and co-drivers may enter 10 minutes before their start time (4.12.2). No repairs, assistance or refueling (4.12.3). Fuel only goes in at a designated refuel zone (5.8.1, 7.1.8).
• Final control: the card is still handed in. Drivers and co-drivers remove the RallySafe unit and kit right after checking in (5.2.5, Bulletin 2026-3).

9. Penalties you never apply (but should understand)

Knowing these explains why drivers and co-drivers wait or hurry. You never apply them, mention them, or calculate them.

An early car may be neutralized at the Clerk of the Course's discretion so it leaves as originally planned (5.3.13). That's the Clerk's call, not yours.

10. Reporting infractions

For 2026, marshals report improper procedure infractions in writing to the Clerk of the Course, and the Stewards set the penalty (6.4, Bulletin 2026-7). Time the car normally, then write down what happened, when, and the car number. Examples:

• Driving through a control without checking in, or re-entering a control area (6.4.7).
• Reversing in a control without direction (6.4.3). Window open without a net (6.4.5).
• Ignoring a marshal's instructions (6.4.8) or an organizer's instructions (6.4.9).
• Quiet zone breaches: auxiliary lights or anti-lag (4.13, 6.4.1).
• Stopping between yellow and red signs, or between the flying finish and stop signs; unapproved card corrections; missing control entries (Bulletin 2026-11 referrals to the Stewards).

11. Safety on stage

• SOS means an emergency: an injury needing immediate medical attention, uncontrolled fire, a breach of stage security, or a completely blocked road. Following cars must stop (5.15.2).
• OK means stopped but no medical help needed, shown early enough for following cars to slow (5.15.4). Thumb up = OK; crossed arms over the head = SOS (5.15.8).
• If the sign and the emergency console disagree, drivers and co-drivers follow the more severe one (5.15.10).
• At an SOS, the first car renders aid. The second takes details to the next radio point and stays until released. Others stay at the scene. An SOS can't be rescinded (5.15.9). The stage may then be stopped or cancelled (5.14, 5.15.6).
• One warning triangle could mean a fully blocked road; cars slow down until past the stopped car (5.15.1). Drivers and co-drivers must collect their triangles (5.15.7).
• Slow cars use four-way flashers (5.16). A car being caught must make room (5.17).

12. Retirement and restarts

• A retired driver and co-driver can restart the next leg only if they tell the Clerk of the Course in writing at least 60 minutes before that leg, giving the reason and agreeing to re-scrutineering (6.3). Restart penalties apply (6.3.1).
• New for 2026: a driver and co-driver may rejoin within a leg as a non-competitive entry if the Clerk approves. They still pass through controls; time them as usual (6.3.2).
• A retired driver and co-driver on foot at your control: tell radio, so the sweep isn't searching for a driver and co-driver who are safe.

13. New for 2026

• Unapproved card corrections, missing control entries, a missing start entry, and stopping before the stop board are now referred to the Stewards instead of automatic exclusion (Bulletin 2026-11).
• Improper procedure infractions are reported in writing to the Clerk of the Course, and the Stewards set the penalty (6.4).
• New infractions for ignoring marshal (6.4.8) or organizer (6.4.9) instructions. Drivers and co-drivers must let officials move their car (4.1.8).
• Either the driver or the co-driver may drive unless the event says otherwise (2.1.1).
• Retired drivers and co-drivers can rejoin as non-competitive entries with the Clerk's approval (6.3.2).
• At RallySafe events, the unit's time is official and the unit must stay powered (Bulletin 2026-3).
• Section numbers moved: stage start, finish and stop rules are now 5.12.x, parc fermé 4.12.x, safety signs 5.15.x.

14. Rule index

Your event's briefing and supplementary regulations take priority over this guide. Rules are paraphrased; the 2026 RCR on the ARA's Sportity board is the authority.