I never followed rallying and don't know much about it. But I'm playing WRC4 right now and got a few questions, which are probably more specific to racing happening under WRC title. 1) How much practice do drivers have at each round? 2) How much practice do drivers have at each special stage? 3) Who makes pacenotes? Is it the crews themselves? Which means they drive each stage at least once before the final run? 4) Next year, does the same round takes place on the same roads or is it different each year?
1/2. They don't get a full speed run on the stages before the actual timed runs. They will have what's called a shakedown stages which allows them to get the car set up and get an idea of the conditions. 3. The drivers write their own notes. They go through the stages slowly (I believe there is a speed limit) in a normal(ish) car and write the notes as they go. They often will have a crew go through the stage a few hours before the actual run to check for any changed conditions (ice, gravel on the road etc) 4. Often stages are repeated from previous years but there may also be some changes.
Just to add that these are the current rules to save costs. In the 80s and 90s teams were able to drive some stages in their own cars prior to the events and the even used helicopters and other tools to assess the weather and route just before their runs. Extensive testing was also normal although not always on the actual stages as many were public roads.