2019

08/03: Guide released
17/03: Added Continues, Small Crest, Long Crest, Big Crest, Downhill, Short, Dip, Gravel, Past, Deceptive, Bad Camber notes.
03/05: Added Cut, Big Cut, Early, Late, Tunnel, Deceptive, Chicane notes. Added a Jump and a Square images.
06/08: Added Water Splash note. Thanks to @Bartbarian for this one
17/09: Added Deceptive note (why wasn't this there before lol), Changed Over note. Thanks for @mjbr55 for this one

2020

06/04: Changed details of Flat note. Thanks @Earl Lemongrab for this one
19/08: Added Uphill note. Thanks @Rahjish, @Nubbarus and @LikeWildFire for this one. Deleted "Are these notes in the game" section. Added "Did I miss something?" section.
31/12 Changed definition of Over note. thanks to Eagle Beak [4ID]

2021

16/01: Added Double Junction. Added Gate and Narrow Gate. Added Narrow Bridge. Added Around Bales. Improved readability of the guide (imo lol).
26/01: Added Keep Straight note. Added Chicane note.
21/08: Removed Bridge note as there two of them. lul Thanks to @UNeaK for this

2025

29/03: There were two sections for "Chicane". Thank you @black_rose for pointing that out . Disclaimer: I miss having free time to play rally games :( . Being an adult is hard.
25/04: Fixed "behing" to "behind" in Road Description. Thank you @ionburger for pointing that out .

Because although pace notes are the heart of the Dirt series there is little good information about them. I’m just a normal player but I decided to make this guide to help people get into this game in a easier a.k.a. less frustating way.

Rally is done on hundreds of random kilometers of road. You just can’t memorize them like in Formula 1 where every driver knows every corner, every bump and every kurb. To overcome this situation, rally drivers use pace notes which are notes that describe the road so they can push and drive at the limit even without knowing the road.

Imagine you are in a maze and there is a friend on the phone calling you which direction you have to go in order to get to the exit. He says "100 meters" and you walk 100 meters. He says "Left" and you go left. He says "Right" and you go right. Got it? He is guiding you in the same way that a codriver in rally does.

There are different systems for pace notes. The Dirt series uses the 1-6 system (1 to 6 refers to corner severity), popularized by the legend Colin McRae. There are many others and variations that a driver-codriver of a system because of the driver's preference.

followed by


It describes where the next turn is going along with its radius. The higher the number, the wider is the turn. Using the same analogy, the lower the number, the tighter the turn.

A square is a 90° corner, like the vertex of a square. If there was a Left/Right 0, it would be a Square, because of how close in sharpness is a Left/Right 1 and a Square.


A hairpin is like a arc. I like to think that it is a semicircle corner because of its almost constant radius.

There are severity variations for a Hairpin corner: Open, Tight and Very Tight. A regular hairpin is just a hairpin, while a more open and less abrupt is a Open Hairpin. Tight and Very Tight Hairpin are very abrupt type of Hairpin (like the Acute of past Dirt games).

It is the middle term between a flat section and a 6 Right/Left. A very minimal radius variation and can usually be driven flat out. It can also be used before Crest/ Jump/ Bump to let you know you can flat it out.

I've made this to illustrate the corners in Dirt Rally 2.0. I hope it makes you understand them better.
Pardon my photoshop skills

or
If the turn does not follow the standard length of a corner, a Short/ Long note will be called, which means that the corner is shorter/ longer than the usual. There are variations for long corners like "Very long", "Extra long" and "Extra extra long".

It sems the scale of length from the shortest to the longest is this, but it needs further testing:

• Short -> Long -> Very Long -> Extra Long -> Extra Extra Long

If there are two corners mixed and its radius can’t be described with 1/2/3/4/5/6, your codriver will say Tightens or Opens. Let me create a scenario.

There are two corners mixed. If you could split them, the first one would be a 6 Right and the second one a 3 Right. Because middle corner the radius DECREASES, the note is 6 Right TIGHTENS 3. On a simple language it is like he is saying 6 Right then it turns into a 3 Right. Other examples: 5 Left tightens 4, 3 Left tightens 1.

If it was otherwise and the first corner was a 3 Right and the second one a 6 Right, the note would be 3 Right OPENS 6. In this case middle corner the radius INCREASES. Again, it is like 3 Right then turns into a 6 Right. More examples: 1 Left opens 3, 4 Right opens 6.

Sometimes they can be used without saying another corner, like 3 Left Opens. This means the corner opens but not enough to be a 4 Left. With 3 Left Tightens the corner tightens but not enough to be a 2 Left.

Used to inform that a note that you may have thought it was over is actually not. For instance, 6 Left Over Crest Long Tightens Past Junction Continues Very Long. The Continues means that the 6 Left Tightens will continue after the junction for a Very Long duration.

It is a junction that you pass but you do not turn. It is used to prevent you from driving into it. A "double junction" will be called if there are two consecutive junctions.

A turn is a junction that you do turn. The codriver will tell where you have to turn, like Turn 3 Left.

OBS: may be used in conjunction with Turn or Junction to inform a note after the Turn/ Junction. For instance, 1 Left Past Junction.

For you to know how much long is each instruction that your codriver says, a distance is used. For example, 6 Left One hundred 1 Left. Here there is a 100 meters long road separating the Left 6 and the Left 1. There is a slight pause after he says the distance for you to recognize that he is meaning a distance. Not only in this case, but also for straight sections, like Two hundred, which means a 200 meters straight road.

Sudden means right after the previous note. If you hear "5 Left Over Crest Sudden 1 Left" then you can bet that after the crest you will have to immediately turn for the 1 left. Hence the name SUDDEN.

They are meant to warn about the apex of the corner that you should take. If you don't know what an "apex" means, I hope this image helps. In short: depending on the following road/corner, it is best to take an early or late apex.


Source: https://www.karneylaw.com/Biker-Blog/ArticleID/61/Understanding-the-Apex-of-a-Turn

This means that you should drive with caution, or you will damage your vehicle. The danger can be a cliff, a big rock, etc.

You should brake sooner than you would usually do. Usually because you can't really see the corner until you are very close and therefore can't predict the amount of braking like every other corner.

Used for you to position your car in the safer part of the road. There may be a lot of rocks on the left side of the road, so you codriver will say Keep Right (or keep middle).

Keep In is to keep driving on the inside of the corner you just drove. For instance, "5 Left Keep In" you must keep yourself to the left of the road.

Keep Straight is used when there are two junctions on each side (one on the left, other on the right) and to keep you from driving into each one of those a Keep Straight note will be called.

Here you should cut the corner because it will be faster. On a small cut you can barely cut, on a Cut you can cut normally and on a Big Cut you should cut a lot; just don't cut too much


To be faster, you most of the time cut the corners. But sometimes there are rocks or posts or even people where you would usually cut, so the codriver say DON’T CUT. Seriously, do not cut.

Used between two notes to say that it is one briefly followed by another. Example: Left 5 into Left 3. In this case, there is a Left 5, a very very short distance and then a Left 3.


And is a "Into wannabe". Whereas on Into the notes are connected, a And is a short distance between the notes, something like 40-50 meters.

OBS: Into and And are very similiar. Don't worry, just know that they are a very short distance.

It means that you can’t see the road beyond, so drive with more care.

Usually preceeded by a corner. It means that said corner is literally hidden or at least very hard to see because it is behind bushes, trees or rocks.

What you are seeing may not be the actual path to go. If you hear a deceptive from your codriver listen very carefully to the note, or you may go to the wrong way, hence the name "Deceptive".

Over translates to "during". So a 5 Left Over Crest means the 5 Left starts before the crest and continues on AND after the crest.

More commonly used with Crest but can also appear with Over Dip, Over Jump, Over Bridge etc.

thanks to Eagle Beak [4ID] for pointing out a mistake

A bump that will destabilize your car. Not much to say.


A jump maybe means that your car will jump slightly (or not at all depending on the car). A jump means that it will almost certainly jump. A big jump means that it WILL jump and usually it is indeed a big jump.


A camber is when the road is tilted. A Bad Camber is when the road is tilten AWAY from the corner. Let's say you are going through a 3 Right Bad Camber. The highest part of the road is on the inside of the corner and you will lose a lot of grip because of it, meaning you can't drive this 3 Right like every other 3 Right. That's why it is a BAD camber.

Usually used along things like gate, bridge or dip. It just means that you will pass through it along the note before. For instance, 3 Right Through means that the bridge is on the corner.

Used to inform that there is a section of the road that goes down then up sharply. Think of it like the letter "U".


Used when the road ahead is narrower than the normal, so you will have less space to work your car with.

Used to inform that a section of the road is ascending. Usually preceded by a distance, like "One Hundred Uphill" which means 100 meters of an ascending road.

Used to inform that a section of the road is descending. I swear to God the codriver says Down Hell.

Usually followed by "Outside" or "Inside". It means that there are logs on the outside/inside of the corner WHICH then means that you should avoid the outside/inside of the corner. unless you wanna hit some logs idk


You will have to drive through a giant water puddle. It can be a river crossing or maybe a little slope that built up water.

Common in Germany, it is a "fake chicane" with two bales on the road. The codriver will tell you where the entry is by saying Left Entry or Right Entry.

Just to warn that you will enter a tunnel. Only seen on Monte Carlo.

You will pass through a gate. On narrow gates a "narrow" will preceed the Gate note.

Well, there is a bridge. If the entry is really small a "narrow" will preceed the Bridge note.

Bales (or haybales) on the road as a way to shape the track and make you avoid them. Usually to make a "fake chicane" or a "fake hairpin".

Used to warn you about a track transition.


Congratulations, you didn't die.

If there is something you have heard that I didn't put it in the guide, please comment!!

Thanks for reading the guide and good driving!

If you wanna correct me, add an input, confirm if you listened to a note on the "Are these notes in the game?" section or whatever else, feel free to do it so in the comments.