Sep 21, 2026
6 min read
4rally is an international rally management company headquartered in Vilnius, Lithuania — the same city where Gurtam, the developer of Wialon, is based. The company performs a wide range of services for rally events worldwide:
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Safety monitoring: providing and installing dedicated safety tracking equipment in competing and support vehicles, monitoring their location and status in real time, and helping organizers respond quickly to incidents and emergencies.
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Race control: monitoring and supervising the event from pre-race activities through to the competitive stages.
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Timing and results: managing timekeeping and results, from participant entries and start orders to live results, classifications, and long-term performance records.
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Rally documentation: preparing essential event documentation, including road books, safety plans, route cards, reconnaissance cards, rally guides, maps, and other required materials.
Behind 4rally’s impressive portfolio of race management operations is its own Safety Tracking System (STS), a custom-developed tracking solution designed specifically for rally events.
In 2024, 4rally rebuilt STS with Wialon at its core. Wialon gave 4rally the reliability required for live rally operations, backed by a 99.5% uptime commitment in the SLA — with actual uptime being even higher (99.984% over 2025). Our fleet digitalization solution was also a perfect fit for the technical requirements of the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) Rally safety guidelines.
Challenge
Saying that rally racing is an extremely dangerous sport is a bit like saying the Sun is very hot. So instead of piling on adjectives such as “breathtaking” or “mind-blowing,” let’s show what makes this motorsport discipline so intense with a few simple numbers and comparisons.
While the numbers are already impressive on their own, the rally environment makes all of this even less forgiving. The FIA itself describes rally stages as running through a constantly changing, “living” environment, with unexpected obstacles and weather conditions.
The same scale that makes rallying so remarkable can also make it difficult to keep everyone safe — as the story below clearly shows.
In the early 2000s, during a rally in Lithuania, safety relied on people stationed at radio points placed roughly every 5 kilometers. Their job was to confirm when each car passed. During the race, a car failed to reach the next radio point. It had effectively disappeared somewhere between 2 checkpoints.
The rescue team knew something had gone wrong, but they could not immediately determine where. The car had left the road and crashed through the bushes, leaving no obvious trace visible from the road. Spectators later pointed rescuers toward the crash site.
By the time help arrived, around 15–20 minutes had passed. The driver could not be saved. A faster response might have made a difference.
This is where a rally management system becomes critical: it should help detect incidents immediately, identify where they happened, and support a fast response. And it has to work reliably even in remote areas, where mobile coverage may be weak or inconsistent. Additionally, the software needs to be flexible in terms of hardware compatibility, as rally conditions may require additional hardware customization. With strong capabilities across all these areas, Wialon gave 4rally the perfect tools to enhance its Safety Tracking System with greater reliability and resilience.
Solution
Software
Wialon plays a key role in how 4rally’s Safety Tracking System works, providing the tracking capabilities that give race control real-time visibility into crew locations and activity across the course.
Wialon brings all incoming tracking information together in one place and processes it fast enough to ensure emergency messages reach race control in around 1 second. Geofences, tracks, and reports make it easier to monitor the course and investigate what happened, while Wialon’s hardware-agnostic approach allows 4rally to use specially modified trackers built for demanding rally conditions. Underpinning it all is Wialon’s exceptional reliability — essential for a system that needs to keep running without even the slightest interruptions throughout the race, especially when a critical situation occurs.
On the front end, the main STS interface turns Wialon data into a clear real-time overview of the event. Organizers can see each vehicle’s position, speed, direction, ignition status, stops, zone alerts, and distress messages. The system also helps monitor whether crews follow the rules during the race and recce, while the event’s safety plan can be presented directly on the map, including the locations of safety marshals and other resources.
To see STS in action, let’s consider a realistic rally scenario.
Alongside the main interface, 4rally’s solution offers a public interface for teams, media, and spectators. It provides an online view of the rally route, competitor positions, stage control areas, split points, and vehicle speeds. Users can also select their favorite crews and follow their progress on the map.
Hardware
The trackers used by 4rally are designed specifically for an environment where ordinary hardware would have a difficult day.
The units are autonomous and tamper-proof, so crews cannot accidentally or intentionally switch them off or disconnect their antennas. High-sensitivity internal satellite and data radio modules mean external antennas are generally unnecessary — an important advantage if a car rolls over or leaves the road.
Each tracker supports several satellite positioning systems, as well as automatic anti-jamming for up to 8 signals. If mobile coverage disappears, the unit can store more than 13 hours of tracking data and upload it once the connection is restored.
A main internal battery provides up to 4 days of operation, backed by a second battery providing another 4 hours. The trackers can also be connected to a vehicle’s 12V supply and are robust enough to withstand a direct load of up to 5,000 kg, according to laboratory tests.
Because the units are autonomous, they are not limited to competing cars. Organizers can also place them in ambulances, fire brigade vehicles, radio cars, safety vehicles, helicopters, and other assets involved in running the rally.
Results
With Wialon at its core, 4rally’s STS gives organizers a reliable way to see what is happening across the course in real time, quickly identify incidents, and coordinate a response.
4rally makes rallying safer not only at top-level competitions, but also at large amateur events.
A good example is the Women’s Rally in Lithuania, where 180 teams took part in 2025. Gurtam joined the event in 3 roles: as an official partner, a telematics partner and provider supporting real-time tracking and safety monitoring, and a participant, with 5 teams of Gurtam employees entering the rally. One of them, Gasolina Queens, won the Guest category.
helping race control react quickly when every second counts.
supported by Wialon’s exceptional uptime (99.984% over 2025) and the stability required for safety-critical rally operations.
with real-time positions, 2-way communication, emergency alerts, and better coordination of ambulances, firefighter brigades, and other safety teams.
allowing organizers to monitor movement, speed, direction, timing and results from the all-in-one motorsport management ecosystem.
