Supercars has clarified its Safety Car rules for Sunday’s race following consultation with teams, drivers and Motorsport Australia during competitor briefings on Thursday.
Safety Car regulations have been a major talking point in the sport this year.
The process of requiring drivers to apply 80km/h speed limiters within 15 seconds of a Safety Car being called was deemed to have a detrimental impact on race strategies.
A trial of ‘slow zones’ in practice at The Bend proved disastrous, as Jamie Whincup slammed into the back of teammate Scott Pye at one of the slow down points.
Slow zones and the 80km/h slowdown were both scrapped for Bathurst, with Supercars claiming it would revert to traditional rules regarding slowing for yellow flags.
However, in a bid to avoid ambiguity, a note sent to teams this afternoon confirms that limiters will be required in double-waved yellow areas during a Safety Car period.
“Drivers are to engage their Safety Car speed limiter at the first marshal post that a double waved yellow is displayed and slow to 80km/h in a safe manner,” it read.
“The Safety Car speed limiter may be deactivated at the next flag post a single waved yellow flag is displayed.”
Single waved yellow areas, however, “will be policed in the same manner that single waved yellows were policed at Tailem Bend”, meaning reducing speed and not overtaking.
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