Field guide

Read the next instruction before reaching it: distance, diagram, direction and notes. Anticipate the feature, any earlier hazard and the speed or preparation needed. Identify it using distance, approach geometry and landmarks; a similar-looking junction is not enough.

Act only when the evidence supports the instruction. After the feature, confirm the exit using direction and ground, then advance the roadbook. If clues disagree, slow safely and recheck the last confirmed instruction before changing counters or committing to another turn.

Practise this complete routine from the beginning. The navigation workshop pairs a full roadbook with perspective scenes, instrument controls and explanations, followed by fresh assessment variants with delayed feedback.

A rally day combines road sections with one or more timed Selective Sections. Riders start at assigned times and follow the official itinerary in waypoint order. Start order and intervals come from the event regulations and classifications; do not assume they are simply yesterday’s result.

A roadbook row combines total distance for the section, partial distance from the previous diagram, a tulip diagram, and a description. Current top-level motorcycle rally-raid uses an electronic roadbook in the NAV-GPS; paper or separate devices may still appear in training and other events.

The navigation system is intentionally limited. It shows heading and speed, then supplies CTW/DTW guidance only under the rules for the active waypoint. It is not a moving map with the rally route drawn on it. Follow the official roadbook and every published update.

The roadbook’s total is the distance from the start of the current Road or Selective Section. Its partial is the distance authored from the preceding diagram. In this trainer the partial resets at simulated waypoints to make each leg easy to practise; do not assume every real device or row behaves exactly that way.

Keep three quantities separate: the printed interval is fixed; the live partial counts from its last reset; distance remaining is an estimate from their difference only when their reference points agree. For a printed 0.60 km interval and an aligned live 0.42 km partial, about 0.18 km remains.

Real equipment may let a rider reset a partial and adjust the total reading. In the 2026 FIM system the odometer is also recalibrated automatically at each waypoint. Wheel spin, tyre changes and line choice can still make an independent tripmeter disagree with the organiser distance.

Compare distance with several clues: CAP, the tulip shape, surface and landmarks. Correct a manual trip only at a feature you can positively identify. A mismatch is a warning to cross-check, not proof by itself that the roadbook is wrong or that you are lost.

CAP is a compass direction in degrees: 000 north, 090 east, 180 south and 270 west. The NAV-GPS COG is your actual direction of travel. CTW is the direction from your position to an opened waypoint, while DTW is the remaining straight-line distance to it.

On a defined track, the roadbook diagram and ground normally lead while CAP confirms the line. Off-piste, hold the instructed CAP and monitor distance. Wind, slope and obstacle avoidance can move you sideways, so check the number repeatedly rather than aiming once and forgetting it.

A waypoint arrow is not a route line. It points directly to an opened target and can tempt you to cut across terrain or approach from the wrong context. Keep reading the itinerary and use GPS guidance only when the waypoint type permits it.

Enter a tulip from the ball at the bottom and leave along the arrow. In the standardized roadbook layout the route to follow, including the arrow, is blue; the other tracks show the junction context. This trainer uses bright cyan for that same route emphasis.

The ball indicates the approach, not your live location. Locate the diagram’s measuring reference or specified feature for distance checks. A GPS target opening, a validation-circle boundary and the physical diagram reference are distinct events.

Do not learn that every unused branch must be crossed out. A strike can appear as an explicit trainer cue, but the reliable instruction is the highlighted arrowed route. Match its angle and the number of contextual branches to the ground before committing.

A solid line represents an existing track and a broken line represents off-track terrain. Diagrams are schematic rather than maps to scale, so read their topology, direction, notes and distance together.

2026 FIM defaults are: WPV full GPS information, validation 200 m; WPE opens after the previous waypoint validates or within 1,000 m if it was missed, validation 90 m; WPM guidance opens at 800 m, validation 90 m; WPS opens at 1,000 m, validation 30 m. A WPM masks coordinates and GPS guidance, not its roadbook row.

WPC gives no navigation guidance and validates at 300 m. WPP is listed in waypoint order but is not marked in the roadbook and gives no NAV-GPS guidance; its default opening/validation figures are 100/20 m. WPN opens at 800 m and validates at 200 m. WPV coordinates are supplied; “visible” does not mean the object must be physically visible on the ground.

A Danger 3 must be associated with a WPS, but a WPS can also be used for other safety or control purposes. CP is a physical passage control, normally associated with a WPS; WPC is a virtual navigation control. Default opening/validation figures include DSS 1,000/200 m, ASS 800/90 m, CP 1,000/90 m, and DZ/FZ 1,000/90 m.

These are defaults. Supplementary Regulations, the daily first roadbook page or a roadbook modification may redefine radii, so event documents always win.

One, two and three exclamation marks indicate increasing danger. They do not define universal safe speeds or a fixed list of obstacle sizes. Read the description, create margin before the feature and obey the event briefing and qualified safety instruction.

Danger 2 and Danger 3 locations trigger an audible warning in the 2026 FIM navigation system, and Danger 3 must be a WPS. This simulator’s hazard speed thresholds are coaching values only; they are not real-world safe-speed advice.

A DZ begins a posted speed-control zone and an FZ ends it. Compliance is checked from the organiser’s GPS data. Neutralisation means competitors are stopped by race direction under controlled/parc-fermé conditions; it is not simply an untimed stretch to ride through calmly.

Work one instruction ahead: know the next partial, tulip and CAP before reaching the current feature. Approaching a dense junction or danger with spare attention is faster and safer than arriving too quickly and guessing.

Use a hierarchy of evidence. First follow the official row and waypoint order, then compare distance, CAP, branch geometry, surface and landmarks. Wheel tracks from other competitors are only another clue; they may belong to someone who is lost.

Smooth inputs leave mental capacity for navigation. Build speed only after correct reading is repeatable. The fastest useful pace is the one at which you can still notice a mismatch early.

If the book and ground stop matching, reduce speed without creating a collision risk and move clear where possible. Re-read the last confirmed row, compare distance and heading, and follow the organiser’s lost-route or assistance procedure when the safe route is uncertain.

Never ride the rally route in the opposite direction to recover a missed waypoint. Reversing on a single narrow rally track is specifically forbidden and creates a head-on danger. Do not teach yourself to make a U-turn on the competition line.

In open off-track terrain, the FIM rule permits recovery only by deviating away from the rally tracks before returning, and only where terrain, event rules and safety allow it. Otherwise continue to a safe place and use the event procedure; a waypoint or time result is never worth a collision.

The itinerary remains secret until official distribution. On current electronic systems, start by confirming the correct day and section, brightness, controls and power. Learn the organiser’s procedure for roadbook changes and verify that every official update has been applied.

Use only information and annotations allowed by the event regulations. Under the 2026 FIM rules, only official briefing notes may be carried for the Selective Section. Do not rely on a personal marking ritual that may be obsolete or prohibited at a particular event.

Before moving, scan the first rows, special instructions and any event-specific waypoint radii. At every pause, check that the displayed row, total, active waypoint and physical location still agree.

Practise in layers: first identify ball and arrow, then distance, then CAP, contextual branches, waypoint logic and hazards. Say the instruction aloud before acting so a vague impression becomes a clear decision.

Use the simulator to build recognition and calm decision-making, not to memorise invented speeds or penalties. Review why each error happened and repeat the exact skill at low pace until the correction is automatic.

Real event documents, briefings and safety instructions always outrank this trainer. A strong navigator is precise, adaptable and willing to slow down when the evidence does not agree.