Hourglass
Roadbook symbol for a 180° U-turn: drive in one direction, turn completely and head back. Often at dead ends and turning points.
What does the hourglass mean?
The hourglass (German Sanduhr) is a roadbook symbol standing for a 180° U-turn: the team drives in one direction, turns completely and heads back. The hourglass shape – two triangles joined at the tip – illustrates the complete reversal vividly.
How to read the symbol
Wherever the hourglass appears in the roadbook, you turn around completely at that point. This is typical at dead ends, at purpose-built turning points or on narrow mountain roads where the route deliberately leads back the same way. The distance figure right after the hourglass matters: the next instruction often follows immediately after the turn, so the co-driver must read on at once.
Relevance for rallying
The hourglass is one of the fixed symbols in the roadbook. A cleanly driven U-turn costs no time when driver and co-driver are well rehearsed: the co-driver announces the turn early, the driver takes it tight and the distance measurement keeps running without interruption.
The hourglass should not be confused with a tight hairpin: the hourglass means the complete 180-degree reversal along the same road, not merely a sharp bend. After the turn the team often passes the same stretch a second time – and the tripmeter keeps running without a reset.
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Related terms
Tulip
The modern roadbook symbol for a junction seen from above: dot = entry, arrow = exit, distance figure between them. Now replacing the term Chinesenzeichen.
Regularity rally
Classic-car motorsport where precision counts, not speed: hold prescribed average speeds and target times as exactly as possible.
Sanduhrklasse
Rally category in which only mechanical measuring and timing devices are permitted.