Rally Secrets: Reading the Road

In the old days of rally racing, rallies were held over long distances and run with minimal information. Teams would race without the advantage of modern pace notes and reconnaissance laps, using only using a routebook to get from point A to B. This routebook would only contain directions for intersections and distances between them, ensuring teams could follow the route without getting lost, but in no way helping them with information for driving at speed. This means that rally drivers would have to read the road ahead and mentally gather as much information as possible, driving only what they can see at high speeds for long distances.
Rally races were often short one or two day events, but could range up to a week long and beyond, with rallies such as the Paris to Peking, the London to Cape Town, and the London to Sydney at the extreme long end of the spectrum.
The key to driving expeditiously on unfamiliar terrain is to practice reading the road ahead. Becoming instinctive with eye placement feeds your brain the critical information it needs to make real-time decisions concerning your speed, driving line, and techniques to be used for corners and obstacles. Looking as far ahead as possible is critical, but instead of focusing directly at the surface of the road, it is advantageous to keep your eyes up on the horizon and scan for useful indicators or the corners and terrain ahead.
Treelines are particularly useful for driving on unfamiliar terrain, as the treeline on the outside of an upcoming corner is often exactly the same angle as the corner itself. As you approach blind turns and crests, that treeline is your best indicator of the direction of the road ahead. Any other indicators on the horizon are hugely useful. Power lines, fences, walls and buildings, earth bankings, hedges, anything on the outside of the road ahead should be considered a useful clue for guessing the direction of the road ahead.
This is of course only a rough outline of the skills necessary for driving on unfamiliar terrain, and gives only introductory information for those looking to begin training for this kind of driving. These skills are applicable and beneficial for street driving and can be used at any speed; they also translate directly to motorcycle riding, ATVs and UTVs, and many other sports that require traveling through terrain quickly and safely.
Learn more about us at teamoneil.com
Click here to book a course: teamoneil.com/driving-courses/
Produced by: Team O'Neil Rally School
www.teamoneil.com/
Supported by:
Optima Batteries
www.optimabatteries.com/en-us
Hawk Performance Brakes
www.hawkperformance.com
Ford Performance
performance.ford.com
Koni Shocks
www.koni-na.com/en-US/NorthAm...
Monster Energy
www.monsterenergy.com
AMSOIL
www.amsoil.com/
Yokohama Tires
www.yokohamatire.com

[@CyberBeatAustralia]

"Left six with a turkey on the inside" I thought this was some american rally term I'd never heard of before, but nope, actually a turkey!

[@fatpanda6414]

11:25 for the ones who want to know!

[@djbis]

yeah, that was hilarious.

[@dsdy1205]

Reminds me of Dirt Rally Phil: "Square right truck on exit" Me: "Did he say truck?" ... Me: "Oh."

[@NvrchFotia]

Listen to your co-driver. Don’t pull a Samir.

[@asmith7094]

List-in to meh, Samir!

[@nicklewound71]

You are breaking thah cahr!

[@walirifai]

Shattap!

[@aaronsempa5820]

🤣🤣🤣

[@user-pd7qc5wd8j]

TPRRIPLE CAUTION !!! TRRIPLE CAUTION !!!

[@confettihunterminus1]

Team O’neil has made me such a better driver. Such high quality content and it’s always consistent. I hope to take a class there some day

[@Joeytheknife905]

Amen to that

[@tonytownley2916]

As a former professional delivery driver ( UPS FEDEx etc), this is valuable skill. In a hurry on unknown roads the trees line are your friend... and yes you can rally a delivery truck.

[@TheOz91]

I'm getting a commercial-rated license pretty soon, and I suspected that rallying skill would be valuable while making deliveries

[@jameshaulenbeek5931]

One thing to add... some road conditions can't be seen. I was driving on a "paved" road (oil and stone, not quite asphalt) and hit a gravel patch in a corner while driving the speed limit. My car went straight as I tried to corner, it hit the dirt, and then all was lost. I wound up turned around on the other side of the road... in the ditch. Totalled the car. Sometimes you can't always read the road surface as well as you think.

[@spmil999]

I don't drive or ride aggressive on those roads for this very reason. They either have gravel pits in corners or are so stripped that their grip is suspect at best. Where I grew up in Ohio, a lot of the roads got this treatment.

[@user-vs7sb9wg2r]

my dad once went 50mph into a blind, tightening corner with a bit of sand on the inside with a loaded fwd station wagon on 195s, got oversteer, swerved left and right while braking and turned into the right ditch with less than 20mph. The car and the road condition are important.

[@Chimera6297]

ayy lmao my first touge run was on a completely unfamiliar mountain and I literally just read the signs and looked for headlights. Hard to miss the bright yellow *HAIRPIN* sign needless to say that mountain is my mountain now and I'll go there every time to test out a new car however with a new (used) car I will not drive fast, because I don't know how it handles at all. unexpected body roll is terrifying sometimes lol instead I'll take it easy until I get comfortable also NEVER drive an unfamiliar road at the limit. that's just stupid. unless you're literally in a rallycross event and don't care if you roll 12 times off a cliff... this should be common sense but I feel like some people need to hear it

[@joeljr570]

Unexpected body roll really is some scary shit ngl

[@Roller_ae86]

I guess my problem is I take cops into account and slow for blind hills...lolol great vid

[@mestariwelho612]

Its good to slow down or be prepared in these types of gravel roads where there are houses nearby. Never know if there is someone like child etc in the middle of the road or near where people are driving. there is one steep hill near my house and ive had few close calls when i cant see whats on the other side before i am fully on the top of that thing

[@jameshuggins4300]

That looks like fun but it's a really bad idea on public roads ask me how I know . You never know when you'll crest a hill or go around a corner to find kids playing or some old lady going for the mail.

[@Roller_ae86]

mestari welho yeah! to not even mention that.

[@seatowsouthshore]

I love that in 23 minutes of driving, you only encountered two opposing vehicles.

[@jimkeating5166]

I think this might be the best video for teaching people how to not just go fast but be fast that you’ve made.

[@mikey_gc8]

Love these type of instructional vid, give me a sense of seat time without actually driving! Awesome stuff 👍

[@church493]

Useful tips for driving in general and for extra situational awareness .. but imho nobody should ever push on any unfamiliar road driven first time, rather opposite, add in extra safety margin. There is a reason, why on track people often familiarize with it during first visit with slow walk-through or driving on scooters along it and such. On public, non closed off for event, roads with much more uncontrollable variables, if it's unfamiliar, one shouldn't push for whatever reasons at all.

[@kilianortmann9979]

On public roads you have to drive to what you can see. But you can always try to see more than the others.

[@Roller_ae86]

What about autox? driving like this is known as driving with the seat of your pants and not relying on things you've told yourself during the course walk to do that were just wrong, kinda like braking zones, you really don't know exactly till you've ran it 1 or 2 times. Really all he's doing is telling you to look as far ahead as you can.

[@trykozmaksym]

Yeah those trees is a savior in Dirt Rally Finland when you don't see a thing behind the hill :D

[@hazgebu]

But they can also be your doom if something goes wrong

[@Erik-oy2si]

yea the codriver isn't always trustworthy lol

[@AlexN2022]

There's a good reason rally is done on roads that are closed and cleared. Those roads are maintained because there's traffic on them, however infrequent. Otherwise towns and the state would close them for the winter. Taking bends and crests at speed is irresponsible. Sorry but that's how it is. Boring, I know. Yes, you can see where the road goes. What you cannot see is that there's a melt stream behind the corner that turned into an ice patch. So you carry as much speed as you think is appropriate for the turn, and go straight into a ditch - or a house, or a hiker with a dog. I once took a corner - a familiar one at that - at decent but safe speed, only to find a whole tree laying across the road. The car didn't have ABS, so the front tires got a flat patch each. I stopped literally touching the trunk with my bumper. Another example - just recently - saw a delivery truck park itself on the side of the road right before a left hand bend. So any traffic - me included - had to go into the opposite lane. If anybody had decided to carry any kind of speed at all into the bend coming from the other side, there'd have been a huge head on collision. I'm all for dangerous sports. Have done a fair amount of that myself. But anybody who gets hurt doing it must have volunteered for it in the first place.

[@AlexN2022]

don't get me wrong. I like your channel. But you're responsible for content you put out there, and whatever you meant by it is not as important as what people will get from it.

[@Der_Jere]

While trying to follow the focus points, the bitrate was really killing me

[@ChevyImpala-my4tr]

I'm in 360p. The effect is multiplied. Not their fault though.

[@trollmcclure1884]

I do it but I learned to expect a tractor, bicycle, human etc behind the corner so I drive so fast that I can stop the vehicle on a distance I can see. Slightly faster when the road was empty for a long time, in the middle of nowhere, in the night,... there will be less tourists in the winter etc. That's how I like to drive on the safer side of the limit. After hours behind the wheel I actually push the limit on the other side, reaching the "state of flow" but I keep my foot above the break pedal a lot to cut from the reaction time and it's exhausting. The state of flow is interresting. The brain does all these calculations on the background, kinda feeling the track beyond the safety reasoning of the conscious mind and senses. You kinda know what's behind the corner but you need to listen to it carefully, not letting anything to steal attention, thinking about stuff etc. The flow takes place in lower brainwaves IMO - it needs to be a relaxed but focused state probably lower than alpha. On the edge of falling asleep after 8 hours behind the wheel it's certainly theta and it's still there. When you start having dreams or see things it's time to stop or eat a hot pepper :) for few extra tens of miles

[@rubenk6]

Wyatt Knox probably does this commentary whenever he's driving alone

[@logangill9052]

Love this channel! Thanks Wyatt you rock 👍

[@dragon_of_okotoks1118]

love these videos they are so informing

[@Gurfbagel]

Great video, thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@roastpuff]

Thanks for the video, it's a great resource as I'm about to go and do my first TSD on very unfamiliar roads to me. Really helpful tips and tricks!

[@tommyvercetti6035]

Look at that cute base model impreza! I love my 2018 sport 5dr as a daily. We got hammered with snow a few weeks back and it took it like a champ!

[@KCDrives]

I have so much respect for these guys.

[@Pwr404]

Thank you for such informative and high quality video. I really want to visit for a rally school near future.

[@dzumadrozd]

Two words. Knowlegde. Experience. Thanks for this video.

[@dallasvanwyk]

Love these videos, keep them coming. Also love watching the DRLs cut off as he pulls the ebrake at 5:40 haha

[@Abraxium]

"When you know there's no traffic" Not a good line of thinking

[@supersloth1667]

This is awesome stuff!

[@erikchristopherson9700]

LOVE yalls videos!

[@Teamoneilrally]

Thanks Erik!

[@jameshaulenbeek5931]

Fantastic video! Whenever I drive unfamiliar roads, I work at this. I do use my phone (map) for assistance, especially if I'm going to a particular place, and it's kept me from wrecking on some crazy roads, but I prefer driving by feel. It's so much fun!

[@hazgebu]

I do that too. In video games and irl. Always good to ruffly know the next kilometers of road ahead

[@L3THALXFOX]

Awesome.tip, usually happens subconsciously but now that I'm aware fully. Its pretty awesome

[@kkkk-wg6je]

beautiful scenery, reminds me of the UP of Michigan

[@Russell_and_Rosko]

Oh man this is my favorite type of driving. Missing UT backroads...so fun with studded tires

[@k24hybrid]

Thanks!!!! Awesome!!!!!

[@Coleskatemane]

I haven’t been on a gravel backroad since it’s winter right now. But man does this video get me to want it to be summer 😩. I used to find windy backroads via google earth and I’d travel 30 plus minutes to one and make pacenotes. I only race at night since you can see the traffic and there is just less in general. I figure if you’re racing on public roads, Atleast do it as safely as possible. Video helps a lot! Team O Neil has made me such a better driver.

[@washguy5982]

My daughter gets her license this summer, she is getting the winter driving course for Christmas, those roads around Dalton NH are really beautiful with the snow. They can be pretty rough in mud season.

[@MikkoRantalainen]

Also know the local road style. Here in Finland on the country side, it's not too uncommon to have sharp turn to left or right after the crest with a field directly in front. If you drive fast and assume that because you don't see any trees in front of the crest you can go fast, it's going to be find, you'll end up in the ditch or in the middle of field. Another thing to consider is wildlife. A moose or deer popping from the woods in front of your car behind the crest is going to make a bad day.

[@Roller_ae86]

I think we learn to do this before we find a closed course to race on.

[@spmil999]

As always, perfection, Wyatt. Let's grab a beer sometime.

[@AudioAdvisory38]

Glad you made it home smooth. No kisses nose to nose with the plow. They beat you to the intersections though, oh bother. I feel more safe on the daily normal road now too.

[@ohcamsrazor1966]

Very funny ‘ that’s where you crawl out of the window upside down ‘...

[@Osprey1994]

Most of my driving experience comes from driving quickly in my car on deliveries. Of course my quickest delivery times are always on routes I haven driven hundreds of times.

[@NakedUndone]

It's beautiful out there...

[@DNRAuto]

Why didn’t I sit in my hotel room and watch these videos the night before 🤦🏼‍♂️🤣

[@MrLundefaret]

Just a small tip, be a bit careful when it comes to those three lines, as both power lines and fire roads can continue straight - but the road? Not always :)

[@matthewzuber9823]

Suggestion, Make a 'Meet the staff of Team O'neil' video. I'm curious who all works there, like who are some of the other instructors, mechanics, general purpose bad asses

[@MikkoRantalainen]

Pro tip: avoid having incredibly heavy keychain hanging from the ingition lock. It turns that many facturers have so low quality locks that having lots of weight hanging from the lock causes it to fail way faster.

[@CommodoreFluffy]

reading tree lines and basic corner lines/loose surface driving theory are the only skills that i can confidently say i have so far. i'm still pretty bad at reading surfaces, and judging corner speeds. I think corner speeds just has to come with more time behind the wheel, preferably on a track, or school where i can afford to overcook one or two corners. Could you possibly do a video on reading surfaces? I guess from nor-cal i just don't have enough practice.

[@tommyvercetti6035]

yes, everything is better on the touge!

[@trollmcclure1884]

Anyone tried driving by the navigation? It's a nice hack too. If it was combined with a drone scanning for cars and people from above - we could drive really fast in a traffic. I'm still waiting for a navigation with a rally codriver voiceover

[@raaplexis2978]

Ive never once given hought to these things but I do it instinctually, I think anyway who enjoys driving, doesn't need to be a professional or anything, automatically does this. When I was 15-16 and started driving, I was scared shitless and barely looked farther than the hood of the truck, now I fly down backroads at 90 with not a care.

[@FuttBuckerByMutt]

Literally got stuck in a ditch today for 4 hours. 4 wheel drive open diffs front and rear... no fun

[@Teamoneilrally]

Ooofff that's a long day. Did you get out on your own somehow?

[@FuttBuckerByMutt]

Team O'Neil I tried for about 3 hours and managed to move a little bit, but I had somewhere to be so I called a tow truck. I was on the backroads in Minnesota and it just snowed too. The deepest part of the ditch was about 2 feet deep of snow and I knocked down some thick brush so that was caught up in my skid plates

[@bradleyanderson5701]

Do a vid like this but in VR. Itd be cool for the viewers.

[@bollepusdodgebolle1603]

Pls make more videos about drifting

[@arthurschopenhauer5020]

Make a video about how to number a corner, please :)

[@nealio990]

Count

[@jameshaulenbeek5931]

They've done that. I'll see if I can find it, but it IS in their video library.

[@jameshaulenbeek5931]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/m5LVm6ScjayMsNk

[@Sahuagin]

@@jameshaulenbeek5931 that was the first Team O'Neil video I watched 8)

[@sarge27271]

Here's a trick for night time driving. When coming upon a crest, check the power lines for any light reflections. There will be a faint glint on the line if another car is coming.

[@SilverScarletSpider]

How to drive unfamiliar terrain quickly: with confidence! And a good night’s sleep beforehand

[@Peppermint1]

What's worse, easy right with skunk or easy right with cow ?

[@piciu256]

Dude I wish I had some snow to practice on 😞

[@franklinwilliams3213]

couldn't imagine driving in these woods with no pace notes

[@riflebird789]

Man if i every go to team o'neil rally school I would love for Wyatt Knox to be my teacher everytime I'd go cuz everytime he explains rallying I would understand it so quickly

[@CommodoreFluffy]

Oh, Quick question. I know that you compete in rally, how do you practice? Just driving attentively on public roads in bad conditions, competing in lower level events year round? Or do most competitive level rally drivers have access to places that they can practice. Do teams contract with land owners or rally schools like you guys or Dirtfish to gain access to track time off season? Or is it maybe to expensive to practice in the sense that other sports might, so you gain experience at events only?

[@eliwatson7936]

I believe this technique is known as the “Fujiwara zone”

[@ZForce151]

My Rule-of-thumb for driving down unknown roads is: There are probably as many rights as lefts so it will probably be a left/right if the last 2 turns were right/left... at least statistically speaking.

[@jameswohler985]

I was driving fairly quick in Mass when I came up on and almost rear ended a moose that was quite a shock.

[@user-vs7sb9wg2r]

This guy jumping from meters to feet to yards: "Parkour!"

[@davidjaffe9210]

Do you folks like the 2020 Impreza Hatchback w/ 5spd? In the market, currently have a high mileage 15' Forester 6MT (it's GREAT!)

[@Teamoneilrally]

Yes it's a great car unless you're building a full-on rally car, in which case they don't reeeally have enough rear suspension travel.

[@diegerr0]

How are the new imprezas working for you guys?

[@Teamoneilrally]

This is our Marketing guy's personal car, it needs a little more power (and some fuses pulled) but it handles great!

[@rainmaker092187]

Just as a reference for my own learning, what kind of speeds are you doing in this video?

[@ancientapparition1638]

Nice try new england police

[@jesse.vr6]

The legal speed limit rated on the road, and according to road conditions.

[@bn880]

He definitely didn't run any stop signs either.

[@cyberneticxylem9614]

I keep seeing people talk about touge runs here. Yet no mention of eurobeat...

[@volodymyrn8460]

Driving so fast close to houses may be really dangerous. Kids may run out any time like those turkey.

[@toothpicdinosaur3777]

That looks like the road to my house

[@stevensolinko8807]

Taking corners on the wrong side of the road is a GREAT way to head on into a snowmobile...

[@Sussex192]

Following the trees is all very well, until you find there isn't trees there, because it goes off a cliff....

[@desiredditor]

Can't do this in cities

[@raulman2473]

You can,use the pavement or the powerlines

[@Teamoneilrally]

The buildings and blocks make it easy sometimes. In modern planned-out cities like New York they're all 90 degree corners. Older cities like Boston or most cities in Europe can be chaos.

[@ultro6904]

7:24

[@thedude4795]

Uhm, these roads cant be unfamiliar to Wyatt Knox, Team O'Neil is close by, how unfamiliar can they be?

[@yokarniybabayracingteam6304]

Meanwhile in Russia: everyday unfamiliar terrain and roads even when you're in a familiar city)))

[@heyoitssky1191]

We don’t have trees here so this doesn’t really apply here sadly

[@shamyzero6349]

What bout touge roads? Tree line is way Bove you

[@AE86FTS]

I guess the line of rocks and plant formation on the side of the mountain

One more reason to not cut forests down

[@dankingsbury9971]

Here in Washington State the law requires a strip of trees between logged-off areas and the road. It's mostly for scenery, but helps as this vid shows.

[@spccaldwellbretw.2701]

like #666

[@CokenOpi]

can everyone in the world please watch this? so tired of being stuck behind SLOW COWARDLY CARS, just put your foot to the floor and let jesus take the wheel

[@lyndonmoore6286]

CokenOpi Jesus can’t take the wheel. He got deported