Orientation drive

An orientation drive (Ori) is a motorsport event. However, there are no special requirements for the vehicle and driver. The sporty aspect lies in the solution of orientation tasks mainly by the co-driver. It involves driving on a route on public roads (usually 75 km) given in the form of orientation tasks, taking into account set driving times (usually 3 hours at an average speed between 25 and 35 km / h).

Orientation trips are mainly held in Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland. In addition to state championships, there are also regional competitions and many individual events that are not part of any competition series.

Tasks

Map sections with drawn route (sketch)

The route to be traveled is drawn on a map section with the help of arrows, lines or points. Select the shortest route between the arrows, lines or dots, as well as between the parts of the task.

The start point and end point can, but do not have to be, specified. The direction is given by arrows. In the case of dots or lines, the direction to be driven must be determined by the shortest route.

Arrows and lines can also be numbered consecutively. This is less the case with points.

If arrows are strung together, this variant is called arrowworm . The arrowhead usually overlaps the arrow in front of it by 2 mm, but this differs from organizer to organizer. When solving the task, the task must be broken down into individual arrows and driven accordingly.

Half arrows

The half arrows are right next to the route to be traveled. Always drive on the street that is closest to the half-arrow (parking lot, parallel path, etc.). Crossing or touching the half arrows is not permitted.

Coordinate information

The coordinates result in one or more points to be approached. In a similar variant of English road rallies, a sequence of numbers is named, in the order of which the next grid line with the corresponding number is to be approached using the shortest route.

Chinese characters

Chinese characters to represent the traffic situation.

This is a schematically shown intersection from a bird's eye view. You are at the point and drive in the direction of the arrowhead. You can drive according to nature or according to the map, this must be indicated by the organizer.

Description of the Chinese characters in the graphic:

Cross straight.
Right in the dirt road.
Junction on the left.
Right at the sign.

fish bone

Fishbone, with the same routing as the Chinese characters above.

The route to be taken is shown along a straight line. The lines to the left and right of this line represent roads and paths that should not be driven. The best way to do this is to use the "leave it lying around" method: Leaving two streets on the right means, e.g. B. turn left at an intersection.

Description of the graphic with the fishbone with the same routing as the above Chinese characters:

Leave a street left and right, so cross straight.
Leave the crossed route on the left, i.e. right into the (unpaved) path.
Leave street on the right, so street on the left.
Leave the road on the left at the sign, here on the right.

These main tasks can be further modified by the organizer in order to increase the level of difficulty (for example checkerboard Chinese or clock Chinese).

One-way system

Many events relate to the so-called one-way system. This means that any road that has once been driven in a certain direction may never (not even later) be driven in the opposite direction.

This mostly results in errors at staggered intersections. If, for example, the opposite entrance is offset a few meters, you would be driving a very small piece of the road in the opposite direction when crossing and thus driving incorrectly. However, in many regions crossing at the same level is prohibited anyway. For example at most Oris in Bavaria. In Baden-Württemberg, however, this is largely allowed. Corresponding information should be found in the implementation regulations of the respective organizer.

Controls

The organizer will set up control panels along the route. Depending on the region, these are called number controls (NK), orientation controls (OK), tree monkeys or silent guards. In addition, there may be manned checkpoints. These are marked with DK or sometimes with SK. When passing an unmanned checkpoint, the passenger must enter the check in the boarding pass. If the checkpoint is occupied (DK or SK), the team receives a stamp entry in the boarding pass. In addition, there are also cutting or target time specifications. Compliance is monitored with time controls (ZK) or secret time controls (GZK). Any control that is missing or is written in the wrong order is penalized.

The winner is the team with the fewest points of failure.

The controls are (in different regions as OK O rientierungs k (ontrol), DK D urchfahrts k ontrol) or SK ( S elbststempel k denotes ontrol).

In addition, the yellow place-name signs (sign 310 of the StVO) are used in some areas. As a rule, the first two letters of the place name must be noted on the boarding pass.

literature

Klaus Buhlmann : The tricks of the rally professionals . Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-613-02341-5 (around fifty pages of the book deal with orienteering; the volume also contains cutting tables from 10 to 60 km / h).