Reading Material

Last week an advert appeared on my FaceBook feed, there was a special offer on this book. Ten dollars off the recommended price. I thought it was too good a deal to pass up.

A good read.

Mark A. Williams was one of the most sought after co-drivers in North American rallying up to his retirement, with countless rally wins and national championships under his belt. Interesting factoid, he co-drove for three different drivers in their efforts to qualify for X Games 13 in 2007. All three drivers qualified with him alongside them. He could only-drive for one in the X Games itself though. 

The book promised to be "up to date" and not based around "techniques from thirty years ago". It's current. There are many iPhone/iPad Apps listed in the book. References are made to the big names of today, Travis Pastrana, Ken Block et al. As well as US Rally legend John Buffum. 

It's a very good read. My copy arrived in the mail today, and I started reading it straight away. A little over four hours later after a break for lunch, I had finished it. 

The most important part of co-driving, that is reading the paces notes and communicating with the driver, is covered in great detail right up to writing your own notes, complete with plenty of useful advice about pacing how you read them back to the driver, and developing shorthand for when it comes to making your own notes.

I don't expect I'll ever need to know the difference between FIA, Canadian, and Rally America time cards. But if I ever do, I know where to find out. 

There's interesting discussions on tactics and your position on the road. How turning up late to a control so the stage conditions in front of you can improve, enabling you to drive faster, so that your speed more than recoups the penalty incurred for checking in late. Or the merits of making a lengthy repair in service depending on how much faster you'll be with the repair made over not making the repair. The book also advises to not stop to repair a flat tyre if you're inside 7 miles from the stage finish because the time you'd loose wouldn't be enough to warrant the time spent on the change. He then outlines a drill of duties between driver and co-driver to enable an efficient wheel change. 

The book takes the reader through four levels of being a co-driver. Capable, Competent, Contributing, and Comfortable, along with the duties associated with each. A capable co-driver should know the basics to get the car around the rally on time, and little more. Competent co-drivers need to be able to do more preparatory work and team organization. Contributing and Comfortable co-drivers should be able to make the serious decisions about timing and repairs. 

I learnt a lot. I also discovered that I've been incorporating some of what is in the book into my style already. If I was to rate myself according to the book, I think I could call myself almost competent. 

I'm glad I got the book. There aren't many instructional books I've read cover to cover. I don't even read instruction manuals all the way through. I shall now read it a second time and highlight important parts with a marker. Hopefully all this will help to make me a better co-driver.

I'd certainly recommend that beginners should buy this book.