The regulations aimed at improving safety by forcing drivers to slow to a set speed limit within a stipulated time frame proved a hot topic following the Sandown 500.

Two tweaks were announced by the series: an increase in the FCY speed from 80km/h to 120km/h and the dropping of a requirement to keep any FCY out for two laps.

As it turns out, the speed regulation was never formally changed in the lead-up to the event.

The change was tabled following driver feedback on the grounds that the severity of the slowdown to 80km/h contributed to nose-tail incidents at Sandown.

However, the prospect of drivers crashing while trying to run the 120km/h through slower corners under yellow at Bathurst is believed to have triggered a backflip.

The speed remains at 80km/h, as referenced by race officials in their post-practice warnings to Fabian Coulthard and Dale Wood following their near-miss in an FCY practice today.

What has changed for Bathurst, though, is an increase in the timeframe – what was a 15-second countdown has become 25 seconds.

That has been done due to concerns over intermittent signals at Mount Panorama.

Drivers are notified of the countdown via their dashboard, which runs on a mobile data network. They are also typically warned by their engineers via team radio.

Although a safety initiative, the Sandown and Bathurst practice incidents point to the FCY slowdown as having the potential to cause accidents in the Great Race.

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Dropping the promise to hold any FCY periods for two laps has also raised the possibility of teams utilising the slowdown strategically.

Without the two-lap promise, teams will likely double-stack their cars in pitlane under yellow, which they did not have to do at Sandown.

That has led to questions over whether drivers facing a double-stack will try and use the FCY slowdown rules to their advantage.

Speedcafe understands that teams have been warned that anyone deemed to be driving excessively slowly under FCY conditions will be referred to the stewards.

Under the Supercars system and unlike that used overseas, drivers are forbidden from overtaking once the yellow is called and the countdown begins.

Race control will likely use the FCY for simple clean-ups that don’t require a full Safety Car. The slowdown system also applies when a Safety Car is called.