US fans are just now becoming more familiar with this popular and history rich motorsport. In between the stages are transit sections. Cars will travel over open public roads to the next stage. They are required to obey all traffic and speed laws during the transits. Often Performance Rallies cover several hundred miles and last over a period of days.
Some stages are during the daytime, others are at night.
The Course Each team receives a route book just prior to the start of the event. The route book describes the course in detail with diagrams of turns, notations of water crossings, jumps, large dips, cliffs, and the presence of spectator sections. The goal is to cover the stage the fastest. Stage roads usually tend to be unpaved, logging trails, mountain roads, desert tracks and in general, pretty rough roads. It is not unheard of for a fast competitor to catch up to and pass the person in front of them.