Prescribed time
Time set by the organiser within which a section or task must be completed – closely related to the target time (Sollzeit).
The prescribed time (German Vorgabezeit) is the time set by the organiser within which a particular section or task must be completed. It is announced in the regulations or roadbook and forms the reference against which the time actually taken is measured.
In practice the prescribed time applies, for example, to connecting sections between two time controls for which a certain time window is given, or to individual tests with a fixed target time. Anyone arriving earlier or later than prescribed receives penalty points – depending on the regulations, per started minute or second of deviation.
The term overlaps strongly with the target time (Sollzeit) and is often used synonymously. Where a distinction is made, the prescribed time emphasises the nature of the organiser's specification, while the target time denotes the time to be matched in the test.
Glossary from A to Z
Related terms
Average Speed Trial
A scored test in which a section must be driven at a prescribed, as-constant-as-possible average speed. Regularity is scored – not hitting a single target time as in the Zeit-/Sollzeitprüfung.
Time Trial (TT)
A scored section where a single prescribed target time must be hit as exactly as possible (abbr. ZP); identical to the Sollzeitprüfung (SZP). Unlike the GLP, the target time counts, not a constant average.
Target-time test
A scored task in which a section must be driven in an exactly prescribed target time; the deviation is scored (abbr. SZP). Identical to the Zeitprüfung (ZP). Unlike the GLP, the single target time counts, not a constant average.