A roadbook is built as a series of sequential tulip diagrams, each depicting a decision point on the route: a junction, a bearing change, a dangerous passage, or a waypoint the navigator must hit to avoid time penalties. Each tulip shows a stylised sketch of the intersection or terrain change, the distance from the previous tulip measured by odometer, a directional arrow or compass bearing, and sometimes a brief written note about hazards or landmarks.
The information is deliberately sparse. A roadbook is not a map and gives no overview of the route ahead — competitors see only the next immediate instruction. This design is intentional: the adventure and navigational challenge of rally raid come from reading terrain in real time while cross-referencing a rolling strip of cryptic diagrams at high speed.
In car and truck classes, the navigator sits in the right seat and works a dedicated roadbook holder — a motorised roller driven by a push button or foot pedal that advances the book frame by frame. The driver focuses on the terrain and the vehicle; the navigator calls the next instruction before the crew reaches each tulip. Timing matters: calling a bearing change too late at 150 km/h across a dry salt lake can mean missing a waypoint by several kilometres, triggering a time penalty or, in remote terrain, a genuine emergency.
Motorcycle and quad riders navigate alone. They mount the roadbook holder on the handlebars, in front of the instrument cluster, and must advance it, read it, and ride simultaneously. For solo riders this cognitive split is among the most demanding aspects of the sport — fatigue compounds the difficulty across multi-day events where stages run to 800 kilometres.
Under FIA and FIM cross-country rallying regulations, GPS or GPS-enabled devices are prohibited for navigation in standard rally raid competition. Competitors may carry a GPS unit solely for emergency rescue purposes — to transmit position to rescue services — but they cannot use it to confirm their location or plan their route. The sole allowed navigation tool is the roadbook combined with a calibrated trip meter (odometer) to measure distance.
This rule sets rally raid apart from desert racing formats such as the Baja series, where pre-running reconnaissance is standard. In rally raid, competitors receive their roadbook on the morning of each stage and have no prior knowledge of the course. No pre-running is permitted, and the roadbook itself is not handed out in advance. The element of discovery is built into the format by design.
Missing a waypoint triggers a time penalty assessed at the day's official timing. Cumulative penalties across a long event can ruin an otherwise strong overall position. In extreme cases, navigation errors lead crews into terrain that damages the vehicle or makes return to the course impossible without assistance — and accepting outside help beyond what regulations permit incurs disqualification.
Some of the most dramatic moments in Dakar Rally history have involved navigation errors. Navigating at night through featureless ergs, or in sandstorm conditions that reduce visibility to a few metres, compounds the challenge further. The roadbook system means every crew faces the same information at the same moment; skill in interpreting it is what separates specialists from amateurs.
Traditionally roadbooks were printed on paper strips wound through a mechanical holder. Digital roadbook holders — tablets or purpose-built screens with motorised or touch-advance — have become increasingly common at the Dakar Rally and World Rally-Raid Championship events. The format of the content remains standardised: tulip diagrams, distances, and bearings. The ASO (Amaury Sport Organisation), which organises the Dakar Rally, specifies the permitted formats in each year's sporting regulations.
Even with digital displays, the fundamental constraint remains unchanged: competitors receive the roadbook only at the start of each stage, navigation by GPS is prohibited, and only the information printed in the book may be used to find the way. This keeps the navigational skill and uncertainty that define rally raid intact regardless of the display medium.
Rally raid simulators representing events such as the Dakar Rally increasingly model the roadbook system as a central gameplay mechanic. Accurate simulation requires presenting tulip diagrams in sequence at correct trigger distances, restricting in-game minimap or GPS use to reflect the regulations, and linking the navigator voice-over or on-screen prompts to the roadbook feed rather than a GPS trace. These elements make roadbook navigation one of the distinguishing features of rally raid simulation compared to point-to-point rally games.