In the past, the roadbook was marked up with highlighters the night before; today, the route only arrives on the display shortly before the start. That is how Johnny Campbell describes the change in rally navigation. The eleven-time Baja 1000 winner spoke about it in episode 16 of the “Bore and Stoke” podcast. Motorcycle.com published an excerpt on Wednesday, 7 October 2026.
According to Motorcycle.com, the conversation took place in the desert while Campbell and his team JCR were preparing for Dakar 2026. The article does not give an exact recording date. It is therefore a background conversation rather than a current report from the competition.
From paper scroll to screen
A roadbook is the rally riders’ navigation document. It shows distances, directions and hazards section by section. For a long time it ran as a paper scroll through an electrically driven holder on the handlebars. Campbell recalls that era (quote translated): “Instead of the old method with a paper scroll that an electric motor keeps turning, and a roadbook that you marked and coloured in with pins, the organisation now simply loads it onto your device shortly before you set off.”
According to Motorcycle.com, this removes a lot of preparation. Riders used to work on the paper scrolls with highlighters in the motorhome in the evening to emphasise turns and compass headings. Today, the details of the route stay secret until the morning of departure. Riders receive the digital route via Bluetooth at the exit of the bivouac, the rally’s paddock area. That means they can no longer memorise obstacles or landmarks beforehand.
Glare and heat as a problem
The switch was not simple. Motorcycle.com writes that manufacturers such as Honda and the organisers had to test together for years before the digital cockpit displays were ready for use. Campbell describes the conditions the screens have to cope with (quote translated): “Imagine the glare, the heat … when your normal smartphone sits in the sun, it goes black and shuts off.” Riders are out in the dunes in the middle of the day, he says, and there it is “glaring white”.
In his view, development is not finished yet. Screen technology continues to evolve so that riders can read their notes reliably even at full throttle in terrain without landmarks. The article gives no specific failures during races and no technical data on individual devices.
Sources and image credits
- Motorcycle.com: “Bore & Stoke Breakout: Johnny Campbell on Rally Navigation Evolution”, 7 October 2026, https://motorcycle.com/bikes/features/bore-stoke-breakout-johnny-campbell-on-rally-navigation-evolution-44672506. Quotes translated from English.
- Photo: title graphic with a digital roadbook display in the cockpit of a rally motorcycle and the logo of the “Bore and Stoke” podcast. Rights holder: Motorcycle.com, photographer not named. Published with the article of 7 October 2026. Original source: Motorcycle.com. Date of recording and licence not stated.