i'm watching speedvision, and the drivers have a co-pilot that makes "calls". what do those guys do? i mean, if i was racing, and i had some dude yelling "^&%$^$#%#$@$#" in my ears, i'd get distracted.

 

I think they indicate "codes" for turns, speed etc.

 

They are telling the driver what's coming up ahead. They have a notebook you'll see them flipping through. They've plotted the course and are saying "left turn, right turn" and how sharp the turns are.

 

and the drivers rely heavily on them, watch when a co-driver screws up, the driver gets plenty pissed

 

I can't stand Colin McRae's codriver Nicky Grist. I saw him interviewed at the beginning of this season, and he basically said things like "Colin can't do anything without me. I tell him were to turn, how fast to go, what gear to be in... I tell him everything." OK, that may be partially correct, but he sounded very self-obsessed.

Grist even has his own website, http://www.nickygrist.com If you go there, you can buy NICKY GRIST MERCHANDISE like the Nicky Grist Body Warmer! LOL!

 

Honestly, I can't blame the guy. I'd be willing to bet, he's a pretty darn good driver himself.. to always be in the shadow, of someone like McRae, would pretty much suck..

but yes, without McRae, he's not much

 

Much as I admire the drivers in WRC, I can't believe that the copilots can do what they do without spewing all over the inside of the car! I get sick just watching them!

 

i think it is amazing that the drivers are able to do drive like that at all. the co-pilot yells out the turns like 2 seconds before the turn, and yells again if they have another turn coming up. i would be totally confused and crash.. but i guess thats why i am not in the circuit...

 

It looks like to me that their main function is to assist the driver in tire changes/maint.,and pushing the car up-right. Perhaps best of all, pointing out to his driver who just blew a turn: "Hey man you just screwed up!"

 

With a copilot the driver can concentrate on one turn at a time with some expectation of what it is going to be. The trust involved between the two guys is incredible. Driver depends on copilot to tell him the right info about the road, and the copilot depends on the driver not to let him die during the race. Remember that the copilot hardly looks at the road, always reading the notes. The copilot has no idea what is going on outside the car if the driver doesn't follow what he says.

Remember how long these races are, it's not like running a 15 corner circuit with your local track group