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Japan: JAF average rally

Japanese average rallies restart the clock at every checkpoint (CP), one minute after the time you pass it. The app can follow that with the Restart time field.

Class B bans rally computers

In the Kanto Day Rally series (2026), class B may not use a "rally computer": an electrically powered device that computes and shows early or late against the commanded speed, from speed or distance taken from the vehicle. Whether a phone or GPS app counts is open. The Ideal Time with its ahead/behind display does what that definition describes. Assume class B forbids this app until the organiser says otherwise. JAF itself sets no equipment rules, so each event's supplementary regulations decide.

Not yet checked by a competitor

This page comes from the JAF texts and one series. Nobody who competes in Japan has read this page yet. Only the Kanto series was read, so the "CP plus 1 minute" rule may not hold for other series.

How this format times you

In Japan, PC can mean two things. In JAF average rallies a PC (pass control) is the point where the commanded speed changes. In Italian classic events a PC is a prova cronometrata. This page is about the first. For the second see Italy: Prove cronometrate.

  • Definition. An average rally is driving each CP-to-CP section at the commanded average speed or required time. Ranking is by the early or late error against the target arrival time.
  • Type 1 (第1種) rules, 2026. Commanded speeds never exceed the legal limit, even momentarily. Starts are at 1-minute intervals. The official distance is based on expressway distance markers.
  • Section distance table. Columns for CP, PC, odometer check point and correction point, the tulip-box number, cumulative and section distance in metres, the commanded speed or commanded time, the required time, and the passing time for car 1 only. Speed changes happen at a numbered box. A "3 minute time-given" leg can sit between speed rows.
  • New speeds on the card. The card handed out at a CP can carry new speed instructions.
  • Timing. The time is taken when the centre of the front wheel crosses the CP line, with sub-seconds truncated. The ideal time at speed changes is also computed with sub-seconds dropped.
  • Re-base. In the Kanto series the next section starts at the actual CP time plus 1 minute [Art. 23.4].
  • Penalties. 1 point per second, early or late the same (classes A, B, L). Class C: 1 point per 10 s. A missed CP is 1000 points.
  • Lateness relief card. One per CP, at most 15 minutes per stage, subtracts declared time from a section's elapsed time.
  • Time-given legs and no-check zones have no CPs inside them. Speed timing restarts from the ideal time at the end of a time-given leg.
  • Odometer correction. The OMCP gives a correction rate: own distance divided by official distance (for example 4.500 / 5.000 = 0.9).

Stage setup

See Turning the roadbook into a stage.

  1. Stage type Regularity. Start signal Time, at your start time, or Tap.
  2. One section for each speed row of the section distance table. Enter the Distance (the table is in metres) and the Speed.
  3. A time-given leg: enter the Distance and the Time (for example 3 minutes) and the app works out the speed.
  4. Keep Auto-switch sections by distance on. Save the stage.
  5. Calibrate the app on the organiser's odometer check point. See Calibrating.

Button recipe

  1. Start. Load the stage and press Start.
  2. Speed change at a numbered box. Press Sync when you are at the box. It snaps the trip to the section boundary and does not restart the Ideal Time. Its number can move, because the distance changes.
  3. At each CP. Press Sync + Restart as the front wheel crosses the line (Next Section + Restart if you switched Auto-switch sections by distance off). If the CP is not at a section end, long-press the Ideal Time.
  4. Set Restart time to +60s. In the Checkpoints sheet (it opens with the newest TC open) open Restart time and pick +60s. The app then restarts the ideal time at the moment of your press plus 60 s.
  5. End. Press Finish at the last CP.

Restart time is stored on each TC. Sync + Restart and Next Section + Restart open no sheet, so open Checkpoints in the toolbar after each press and change the Restart time there. The long press on the Ideal Time and the TC button (custom layouts) open the Checkpoints sheet at once.

Pitfalls

  • Restart time defaults to 0. If you forget to set +60s, the ideal time restarts one minute too early, and you will read a minute late. Check it after every CP until it is routine.
  • Secret CPs. There is no stopping within sight of a CP, and an official can time the car at the moment it stopped. Press on the move.
  • Truncation. JAF drops the fraction of a second at the CP. The app keeps the exact moment of your press, so its restart can be up to 1 s later than the official one, and you read up to 1 s earlier than the official count. For the official base, pick Restart time > Set and enter the CP time in whole seconds plus 60 s. The app also does not truncate the ideal time at speed changes.
  • New speeds at a CP. Each TC in the Checkpoints sheet has a New speed target switch that applies until the end of the current section.
  • Lateness relief. The app has no relief-card feature.

How well the app fits

Mostly good. The re-base with a +60s restart is what the app does. The gaps:

  • you must set the +60s on each TC;
  • no truncation to the second, at the CP or at speed changes;
  • no lateness relief card;
  • the app cannot tell a "rally computer" from a distance display for the rules.

Legality note

See the warning at the top. JAF sets no equipment rules, so each series decides. The Kanto series bans rally computers in class B, and a phone app is a probable match. Do not assume that this app is legal in any class. Ask the organiser.

Sources

The "CP plus 1 minute" rule comes from one series, so it may not be general. Article numbers in brackets.

  • JAF National Sporting Code 2025, Art. 2-14: PDF
  • JAF rally competition rules 2025 [Art. 2, 2-3-2 to 2-3-5]: PDF
  • JAF Type 1 average rally rules 2026 [4.2, 4.3, 4.7, 4.9]: PDF
  • JAF Type 2 average rally rules [4.3]: PDF
  • 2026 Kanto Day Rally series common rules [Art. 16, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25]: Google Drive, linked from day-rally.com
  • Day-rally organiser explainers: time-given legs, odometer correction