Open Road Race Timer

The Open Road Race Timer is designed for high speed automobile racing on closed highways. The race objective is to travel a course of known length at a set rate of speed. That combination of speed and distance translates into a target time to reach the finish line.

There are separate screens for the Navigator where conditions can be set and for the Driver where progress measured against the ideal time can be presented for a heads-up display.

Your starting time will also be assigned as some minute or half minute after the hour in which the race begins. Set the conditions of speed, distance and compute the time in the app Setup and let the app count down to the start of your race.

If the computed time is not identical to the official time down to the ten thousandths of a second, touch the "Distance" button to activate the plus and minus below the time to make fine adjustments. Time is the most critical variable for displays and computations.

The clock will countdown to an automatic start. If possible, synchronize your app's clock to the offical race clock before you start.

Alternatively, you may show a Start Now button on the main screen by chosing the option on a switch in Settings and use this button to initiate the start. Caution, however, the automatic countdown timed start is much more precise and reliable than any human could possibly be.

Speeds can be set at 5 mph increments from 60 to 170 miles per hour. Shorter distances and slower speeds can be used for practice.

Settings allow you to change the precison of various displays. Also, there is a setting that determines whether the app stops computing at the Finish Line based upon either the official time or the official distance. By default, the choice is to stop app computations when the distance to the official finish line reaches zero. Then, you will have an indication of how much time error you have incurred on the course.

Optionally, you may input the Finish Line GPS coordinates if those are known or provided by the race organizer. For your convenience, Finish Line coordinates are included as options for both the Northbound and Southbound segments of the Big Bend and Silver State Classic courses, but be sure to verify these coordinates with the race organizer.

If you chose the Finish Line coordinates option in the Setup, then the computated Time Error to the Finish Line is computed when you are within one mile of the Finish Line GPS coordinates.

For races with out and back stages where the total error is the average between two runs, you can use this time to judge the best time target +/– on the return stage.

GPS inputs trace the path along the rally route. Measurements of actual versus ideal time and distance will be shown in seconds ahead or behind schedule. From time to time you may also record time and distance covered an the error against the ideal course time and distance by touching the Add Split button. Also, you may set automatic split computations at increments of 30 seconds, 1 minute, 3 minutes and 5 minutes.

You may fine-tune the app's distance between GPS receiver and front wheels (if necessary) and clock time figures to the rally's official measures with the options in the Adjustments popup. Unlock to make adjustments and lock to save the changes you make and to prevent inadvertent changes.

If the app's Time of Day (T.O.D.) clock shown at the bottom of the map view (or in the center of the display in the iPad version) does not match the rally's official clock, you may synchronize the two clocks by making small adjustments as required.

App Settings allow you to change the display of Time, Speed, and Distance as well as permitting the display of Time error to be in whole numbers or decimals.

Disclaimer: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.