Editing Rallying (section)

== Rally types ==
Rallies generally fall under two categories, road rallies and cross-country (off-road). Different types of rally are described however a rally may be a mix of types.

=== Road rallies ===
Road rallies are the original form held on public highways open to traffic. In its annually published [[International Sporting Code]], the [[Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile]] (FIA) includes the following definition of rally:{{Blockquote|text='''Rally:''' Road Competition with an imposed average speed run entirely or partly on roads open to normal traffic. A Rally consists either of a single itinerary..., or of several itineraries converging on a rallying-point fixed beforehand.... The route may include one or several special stages, i.e. events organised on roads closed to normal traffic, and which together determine the general classification of the Rally. The itineraries which are not used for special stages are called road sections. Speed must never constitute a factor determining the classification on these road sections.|source=Article 20 Definitions|title=2022 FIA International Sporting Code<ref name="ISC">{{cite web |title=2022 International Sporting Code |url=https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/2022_international_sporting_code_fr-en_clean_version_23_january2022_.pdf}}</ref>}}

==== Regularity rally ====
In an exclusively regularity rally, the aim is to adhere to the itinerary by following the route and arriving and departing at checkpoints at the prescribed time, with penalties applied to entrants who arrive early, late or who deviate from the route. The entrants with the fewest penalties at the end of the rally are the winners. In trying to maintain the set average speed/s, the reliability of the vehicle, and the ability of the crew to drive, navigate and follow the itinerary is tested. Most non-regularity rally itineraries follow this base structure even where driving tests or special stages are used, however these would not then be described as a regularity rally.

==== Time-Speed-Distance (TSD rally) ====
Similar to a regularity rally, the itinerary may advise a time and/or distance, or may only advise a target average speed with no indication where the checkpoints may be.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Road Rally |url=http://www.na-motorsports.com/Rally/Road/ |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=www.na-motorsports.com}}</ref>

==== Navigational rally ====
The ability of the crew to follow road signs or directions of varying depth of information is tested.

==== Gimmick rallies ====
Gimmick rallies have less of a concern on timekeeping or driving ability and include other fun and games. Examples include:

* Monte-Carlo styles (Monte Carlo, Pan Am, Pan Carlo, Continental)
* logic
* observation
* treasure hunts<ref name=":1">{{cite web |title=What's a Rallye? |url=https://therallyeclub.org/what.htm}}</ref>

These rallies are primarily amateur events.<gallery mode="packed-hover" caption="Rallying on public roads">
File:Porsche Speedster Sachs Franken Classic 2018 5201320.jpg|alt=|[[Porsche Speedster]] in a regularity rally for historic vehicles, no additional safety equipment such as a roll cage or helmets are needed
File:Ford WRC sur circulation public.JPG|alt=|[[Ford Focus RS WRC|Ford Focus]] on a road section of a WRC rally
File:Rallye des Princesses 2014 Châteaudun.jpg|alt=|Road rally passing through an urban setting
File:Lancia Fulvia 1.6 Coupé HF - 1972 Press-on-Regardless Rally.jpg|alt=|Crew repairing a [[Lancia Fulvia]] on an urban street of the 1972 [[Press-on-Regardless Rally|Press on Regardless Rally]]
File:Ttarga Tasmania 2010 Car 626 Start.jpg|alt=|Start of a targa road rally
</gallery>[[Race stage|Stage rallying]] simply divides the route from the start to the finish of any rally into stages, not necessarily exclusively for speed tests on ''special stages''. Each stage may have different targets or rules attached. In the FIA ecoRally Cup for example, energy performance is measured on regularity stages ran in conformity with the clock.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2023 FIA ecoRally Cup SPORTING REGULATIONS |url=https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/2023_enec_-_fia_ecorally_cup_-_sporting_regulations_clean_wmsc_19_october_2022.pdf}}</ref> A gimmick rally may have stages with varying difficulty of the puzzle element.<ref name=":1" />

==== Speed competitions ====
{{Visible anchor|Rally racing|Stage rallying|text=Also called ''rally racing'' or ''(special) stage rallying''.}}

Road rallies must use [[Special stage (rallying)|special stages]] where speed is used to determine the classification of the rally's competitors; the quickest time to complete the special stages wins the rally. These are sections of road closed to traffic and authorised to be used for speed tests. Special stages are linked by open roads where navigation, timekeeping, and road traffic law rules must be followed. These open road sections are sometimes called transport stages, somewhat complementing special stages in the make-up of a stage rally.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-11-28 |title=Legs and Stages: The Bits and Parts of a Rally {{!}} Beginner's Guide to Rally |url=https://www.skoda-motorsport.com/en/legs-and-stages-guide-to-rally/ |access-date=2022-06-18 |website=ŠKODA Motorsport |language=en}}</ref> These are the most common format of professional and commercial rallies and rally championships. The FIA organises the [[World Rally Championship]], Regional Rally Championships; and many countries' motorsport governing bodies organise domestic rallying championships using speed competitions. The stages may vary from flat asphalt and mountain passes to rough forest tracks, from ice and snow to desert sand, each chosen to provide a challenge for the crew and a test of the car's performance and reliability. A single-venue rally takes place without the need for public road sections though the format and rules remain.

In the wake of the ever more advanced rally cars of the late 20th and 21st century is a trend towards historic rallying (also known as [[classic rally]]ing), in which older cars can continue to rally.<ref>[http://www.historicroadrally.co.uk/ UK HRCR's Historic Road Rally] Retrieved 13 August 2006</ref><ref>[http://www.hra.org.au/ Historic Rally Association (Australia)] Retrieved 13 August 2006</ref> Historic rallies are usually regularity rallies with no speed tests arranged. This discipline attracts some former professional drivers back into the sport. Other drivers started their competition careers in historic rallying.<gallery mode="packed-hover" caption="Special stage rallying">
File:2018 Rally de Portugal - Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC.jpg|alt=|[[Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC|Hyundai i20 Coupe]] contests a special stage of a WRC rally
File:PROKOP - TOMANEK en SS14 La Figuera 2 - panoramio.jpg|alt=|Closed asphalt public highway used as a special stage
File:2010 1000 Lakes Rally Harju 14.JPG|alt=|Urban 'street stage'
File:Forest road junction in Craigvinean Forest - geograph.org.uk - 500942.jpg|alt=|Ford Escort on a historic rally's special stage
File:The Snowman Rally 2010 - geograph.org.uk - 1732909.jpg|alt=|Snowy rally special stage
</gallery>

=== Cross-country rallies ===
[[File:Dakar 2014 - Erik Van Loon (Netherlands) - 20724934060.jpg|thumb|Cross-country rallying - Dakar 2014 (a Rally Raid)]]
Also commonly known by its types [[Rally raid|rally-raid]] or [[Baja (cross-country rally)|baja]]; cross-country rallies take place mostly off-road using similar competitive elements to road and special stage rallying competitions. When off-road, waypoints and markers are set using GPS systems, although competitors cannot use GPS for navigation. Crews must choose how best to cross the terrain to the next waypoint whilst respecting the navigational instructions provided in the roadbook. The challenge is mostly navigational and endurance. The [[World Rally-Raid Championship]] was inaugurated in 2022, including the annual [[Dakar Rally]] in its calendar, with joint sanctioning by the FIA and [[Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme|FIM]].

{{Blockquote|text='''Cross-Country Rally''': Competition with a total distance between 1200 and 3000 km.
'''Baja Cross-Country Rally''': Cross-Country Rally which must be run over one day (max: 600 km) or two days (max: 1000 km). A Super Special Stage may be run on an extra day.
'''Marathon Cross-Country Rally''': Cross-Country Rally with a total distance of at least 5000 km.|author=|title=2022 FIA International Sporting Code<ref name="ISC">{{cite web |title=2022 International Sporting Code |url=https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/2022_international_sporting_code_fr-en_clean_version_23_january2022_.pdf}}</ref>|source=Article 20 Definitions}}

==== Hill Rally ====
Hill rallies are a type of cross-country event found in the United Kingdom and defined and governed by [[Motorsport UK]].[[File:London to Brighton Veteran Car Run 2008 - Brighton - geograph.org.uk - 1038487.jpg|thumb|[[London to Brighton Veteran Car Run]], a Touring Assembly with no competition]]

=== Touring assembly ===
Assemblies of car enthusiasts and their vehicles may still colloquially be called rallies, even if they involve merely the task of getting to the location (often on a trailer). However, static assemblies that simply 'meet' (akin to a caravan or [[steam rally]]) are not considered a form of motorsport. A touring assembly may have an organised route and simple passage controls but not any form of competition held or prizes given. One example, the [[Gumball 3000]], which calls itself '''a rally not a race''<nowiki/>', explicitly states in its terms that no form of competition between participants must take place.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Terms & Conditions of Entry |url=https://gumball3000.com/pages/terms-conditions-of-entry |access-date=2022-06-18 |website=Gumball 3000 |language=en}}</ref> The FIA defined this activity under 'rally of the touring kind' at least until 2007, though have now separated the term 'Touring Assembly' without using the word rally in its definition.<ref>{{cite web |title=2007 INTERNATIONAL SPORTING CODE |url=https://argent.fia.com/web/fia-public.nsf/C57D2C7837004DC3C125734B0032A5A2/$FILE/CSI%2024.10.2006%20modif%20ap%20AGO%20oct%2006%20revu%2016.05.07ANG.pdf?Openelement |publisher=FIA}}</ref><ref name="ISC" />

=== Rally derivatives and relatives ===

==== Trials ====
* [[Hillclimbing]]: Though not a form of rally, hillclimbing could be described in related terms as one special stage that climbs a hill. Cars start at intervals from one start point to one finish point. This discipline allows for many types of vehicles including single-seaters and can be arranged at one venue.
* [[Autocross]]: Similar to hillclimbing, cars also start at intervals and are timed to complete a course, usually temporary and marked out with cones with the intent of demanding good car handling rather than speed. Cars can be single-seaters with roll cages used in [[Crosskart|crosskart racing]].
* Rallysprint: Very condensed form of trials-type driving with no particular global definition. Usually run with [[Touring car|touring cars]] at single venues or a single stage without road sections, co-drivers or itineraries, and competitors may even switch cars depending on the agreed rules of competition.
* [[Gymkhana (motorsport)|Gymkhana]]/Autoslalom: Similar to autocross but with very precise and extravagant handling requirements such as [[Doughnut (driving)|donuts]] and [[Drifting (motorsport)|drifting]].

==== Racing ====
*[[Rallycross]]: Created for a British TV programme in 1967 where rally drivers were allowed to directly compete in groups of four in short sprint races on a circuit. Rallycross has grown to have FIA World and European Championships with specifically developed cars that out-power standard rally cars.
* Formula Rally: Originating as part of the ''Bologna Motor Show'' in Italy, in December 1985, was a show race of rally drivers in an arena occupied by around 50,000 spectators, a "Mickey Mouse Course" had been created, on which two players (starting from different starting places) competed for the overall victory in the final through a ''knock-out system'' over preliminary rounds, quarter-finals and semi-finals. Formula Rally is practiced mostly in Italy and Germany.
* [[Ice racing|Ice Racing]]: The ''ice races'' of the ''[[Andros Trophy]]'', run in France, have their roots in rallying. As early as the 1970s, car ice races were contested in the French Maritime Alps in the winter sports centres of Chamonix ''(24h sur Glace de Chamonix)'' and Serre Chevalier with rally cars that were still relatively tame at the time. Later, the participants developed far more efficient vehicles for this purpose; for the ''Andros trophy'' almost exclusively very potent prototypes with all-wheel drive and synchronous steering of the front and rear wheels.
* [[Enduro]]: A similar, but not identical sporting form to rally for motorcycles.