V8 Supercars has confirmed four key changes to the safety car restart procedure ahead of next weekend’s championship round in Tasmania.
The new safety car restart rules will come into force following a multi-car accident that took five cars out of contention at the season-opening Clipsal 500 last month.
The restart changes include lengthening the Acceleration Zone, an increase in speed when the cars form for restarts from 50-60km per hour to 60-80km per hour; no green flag from the starters box with the lead driver to determine the restart; and, no overtaking before the control (start-finish) line.
In a statement the V8 Supercars Commission explained the primary objective behind the changes “was to simplify the system, as well as only introduce methods that can be genuinely monitored.”
“The Commission agreed that a higher speed limit would better place drivers to prepare for the restart and offer a larger speed variance to avoid exceeding the speed limit,” the statement continued.
“Using the control line as a determination point would ensure that cars did not unfairly overlap prior to restart and the AZ zone lengthened, to be determined circuit by circuit, allowing for more strategy at the restart.
“The green flag will no longer be waved from the starters’ box which may cause confusion amongst the field and give control back to the race leader, as has previously been the case, to restart the field.
“The Commission also considered a double file restart but deemed that because circuits cannot be swept or cleaned during a safety car this would disadvantage drivers on a particular side of the track.”
