Passage control (PC)
A control that only confirms passage – usually by a stamp on the time card. It proves the prescribed route was followed. Also called a transit control or stamp control.
The passage control (German Durchfahrtskontrolle, DK) is a control point at which proper passage is confirmed. It is usually marked by a red stamp board and often announced in advance by a yellow board. The time card is presented and stamped or signed by the official; there are sometimes secret passage controls as well.
With it the organiser checks whether the crew actually drove the route prescribed in the roadbook. As a rule no precise target time has to be kept here – that is what distinguishes the passage control from the time control. Missing one, or approaching it from the wrong direction, is penalised with penalty points.
German uses several names for the same thing: Durchfahrtskontrolle (DK), Stempelkontrolle (SK, emphasising the stamp as proof), Passierkontrolle and Durchgangskontrolle. Depending on the organiser and the regulations they are used largely synonymously. Internationally the term is passage control (PC).
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Related terms
Baumaffe
Colloquial term for a silent orientation control: a letter or number sign on a tree, lamppost or post that the co-driver enters in the control card.
Regularity rally
Classic-car motorsport where precision counts, not speed: hold prescribed average speeds and target times as exactly as possible.
Time card
Control card issued by the organiser on which arrival and passage times are recorded or stamped at the controls.