The route is the product your crews are buying: it is what builds an event’s reputation, and it is what the roadbook, the regulated zones and the tracking setup all derive from. Yet designing a rally raid route is not just drawing a line on a map: between the first draft and the roadbook handed to the crews, there is a full reconnaissance on the ground and a series of trade-offs. Here is the method, pass by pass, from the organizer’s side.
A rally raid route is built in three passes
A route never comes out finished on the first attempt. Experienced organizers work in three successive passes, each with a precise deliverable:
- The map draft. At a desk, over topographic maps and satellite imagery: choice of region, bivouac locations, realistic daily distance, balance between fast tracks and open navigation. At this stage the route is a hypothesis: every track you pick still has to be confirmed on the ground.
- The recce. You drive the entire route, in race direction, and note everything: the real condition of the tracks, crossings, danger points, village crossings, actual driving times. This is the pass that turns the hypothesis into a route.
- Freezing the route. A second pass on the terrain or over the recce data to lock the final line, place the waypoints, write the roadbook and define the escape routes and fallback variants.
Plan those variants from the drafting stage: a track can close between the recce and the race, and a stage must be able to shorten if the weather or an incident demands it. The route is only one of the workstreams of an event; for the full picture (format, permits, budget, safety), see our complete guide to organizing a rally raid.
Liaisons and selective sections: two different design logics
A rally raid stage alternates two kinds of portions that are not designed the same way at all.
The selective section is the timed part: it runs on terrain closed to public traffic or privatized for the event. This is where the sporting interest lives, and where the route designer looks for variety: open navigation, rough pistes, dunes or a dry riverbed depending on the region. It is also where the safety requirements concentrate: access for rescue services, escape routes, evacuation points.
The liaison connects the sections to each other or to the bivouac. It runs on open roads, untimed, and the local traffic laws apply in full. A good liaison is short, simple and low-exposure: every village crossing, every portion shared with other road users is a risk and a zone to control. Speed limit zones are decided at route design time; our article on speed control zones and GPS waypoint validation explains how they are enforced automatically during the race.
The recce: validating the terrain, not just the line
The recce is not only about checking that the tracks exist. It is when you collect all the data the rest of the organization will need:
- Real practicability, and how it reacts to weather: a track that flows when dry can become impassable after a storm, and the route must include the fallback.
- Actual driving times, measured on the move: these set the start times, the check-in deadlines and the opening hours of the controls, not the theoretical average read off the map.
- The sensitive points: crossings, off-camber passages, intersections with open roads, areas where the public gathers. Each one becomes a roadbook note, a speed zone or a marshal post.
- Rescue access: how an ambulance or a helicopter can reach each portion of the selective section, and in how much time.
- Network coverage, logged all along the route: it is what dictates the choice between GSM, satellite or hybrid beacons for tracking the crews.
Record everything geolocated, in a reusable format: GPX is the standard exchange format for tracks and waypoints, and it will spare you last-minute conversions between the mapping tool, the roadbook and the tracking platform.
From waypoints to roadbook
Once the line is frozen, the route takes its distributable form: a sequence of waypoints and a roadbook that narrates the road between them, heading, distance and landmarks box by box.
On championship events, waypoints are codified: the FIA cross-country rally regulations distinguish visible, masked, safety and control waypoints, plus the DZ and FZ points that delimit speed zones. Each family has its own display and validation logic in the navigation equipment, which makes it possible to enforce the intended itinerary without revealing the whole line in advance. The Dakar pushes the mechanism to the extreme: the roadbook, now digital, is only handed over 15 minutes before the start of the special, and the virtual waypoints validate within a 90 meter radius.
An amateur event does not need to replicate that setup. What matters is consistency: the roadbook, the waypoints loaded into the navigation equipment and the reference track in the tracking platform must come from the same file. When each tool relies on its own import, every last-minute correction has to be propagated everywhere, and that is where the discrepancies are born. We covered this in detail in our article on the digital roadbook and GPS tracking.
The same route feeds the race tracking
The route file does not only serve the crews. Loaded into the tracking platform, the same line and the same waypoints become the backbone of the whole race: the stage track shows on the race control map, the speed zones sit on the official line, a crew drifting off the itinerary stands out at a glance, and the public map shows spectators the progress on the real route. It is also what makes live tracking for family and sponsors possible on the actual line rather than on an empty basemap.
In RaidLine, the Route, stages and stopovers module publishes the track to the crews day by day, overview included, and the organization keeps control over what is visible, and when: a route can stay secret until the briefing, then be revealed stage by stage.
Your route, live in an app in your colors
RaidLine turns your route file into a race app: track published stage by stage, offline navigation, live crew tracking and race control tools, all white-label. Demo on request, on a real route.
Request a demoFrequently asked questions
How long does it take to design a rally raid route?
Count in months, not weeks. The map draft can be done at a desk, but the recce requires travelling to the terrain, and the corrections it reveals (closed tracks, impassable crossings, refused permits) call for a second pass. Add margin for the administrative permits, which follow their own calendar.
What is the difference between a liaison and a selective section?
The selective section is the timed part of the stage, run on terrain closed to public traffic. The liaison connects the sections to each other or to the bivouac: it runs on open roads, untimed, and the local traffic laws apply in full.
Do you need to redo the recce every year on a route you already know?
Yes, at least on the sensitive portions. A track gets closed, a ford changes depth, roadworks appear, a landowner withdraws consent: the terrain changes between two editions. Rerunning a route without a fresh recce is the surest way to discover a problem on race day.
Which file format should the route and waypoints be prepared in?
GPX is the standard exchange format for tracks and waypoints: most mapping tools export it and roadbook and GPS tracking platforms import it. Working in GPX from the start avoids last-minute conversions between tools.