Photo Credit: IndyCar
IndyCar has announced that there will be new rules and procedure changes in place that will be effective at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park April 22-24.
Segment 3 of road/street course qualifying (the Firestone Fast Six) will consist of six minutes of guaranteed green flag time. (Rule 8.3.4.6 of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series Rule Book). The timing will stop for any issue that warrants a red-flag. If a red flag occurs towards the end of a session and the remaining time will not be enough for entrants to complete a timed lap, all the entrants will be given an opportunity to complete one timed lap when session returns to green-flag racing. In order for the entrants to receive their one guaranteed lap, their cars must leave pit lane within 30 seconds after the green flag is waved. Previously, the rule which called for Segment 3 to run for 10 minutes, with five minutes of guaranteed green flag time.
Rule 8.3.5.1 has been added to the Verizon IndyCar Series Book, which states that the car involved in a red-flag condition during Segment 3 will not be permitted to continue in the session. Notably, Rule 8.3.5 still remains in effect, which states that the car causing the red flag in any qualifying segment will have their two best timed laps disallowed and will not advance to the next segment.
The qualifying rules were adjusted following issues in the final round of qualifying for the Grand Prix of Long Beach, that left Juan Pablo Montoya frustrated how it took place.
An electronic pit exit commit line has been embedded into the track surface. The transponder in each Verizon IndyCar Series car must cross the embedded line so it can determine a legal pit exit. This procedure will start and be put into use this weekend at Baber and at any other tracks where conditions permit it. This has been put in place following an issue with Simon Pagenaud in the late stages of the Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Backup timing and scoring data decoders have been placed at both the traditional start/finish line, as well as the timing line which is used for qualifying at Turn 14. This procedure will also be in use this weekend at Barber as well as any other tracks the series visit that permit it.
Entries completing five laps on one set of tires which includes “in and out” laps within the first 20 minutes of green-flag racing during the first on-track session of an event weekend at a road or street course, including promoter test days, will receive an additional set of primary tires for use during the weekend. (Rule 15.2.1.1). Previously, the time limit to complete the five laps was 15 minutes.
“The change in Segment 3 of road/street course qualifying was made to simplify the process, create a sense of urgency to have cars on track and give the fans a better show, Jay Frye, IndyCar President of Competition and Operations said. ” We want to avoid situations where the Firestone Fast Six concludes on a red flag, so we’ve put in place the opportunity for each car to post one timed lap at the end of the session.
“The addition of the electronic pit exit commit line uses technology to improve enforcement of the lane usage rule and creates a system to determine if an infraction has occurred. The race stewards’ penalty guidelines remain unchanged. “Adding backup data decoders at the alternate start/finish lines puts a system of redundancy in place to assure accurate and quick results.
“The time allowed for teams to earn the additional set of Firestone primary tires has been expanded by five minutes and excludes red-flag conditions in the first on-track session.”
