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A new rule has been added to the Operations Manual for the season ahead, Rule D3.3.3, which reads as follows:
Team members are not permitted to enter or cross the fast lane when pushing and/or pulling a Car from its Pit Bay during a Session.
Given “assist[ing] the forward motion of a Car at the completion of any Pit Stop” was already prohibited (per Rule D3.3.2), the effect of the new rule will largely be felt in practice and qualifying sessions.
It is in those sessions when cars are, as a matter of routine, parked at 45 degrees and facing the team’s garage between runs, and hence must be pushed/pulled out by crew members given engagement of reverse gear is forbidden in pit lane.
The rule could conceivably come into effect, though, in race conditions if a car is being dispatched after service in the garage.
The other major change to pit lane rules is, of course, the ‘live’ pit lane order.
Formally, at Event 1 of the season, “The Pit Lane order will be allocated by Supercars based on the final classification of the previous year’s final Teams Championship order.” (Rule D2.1.1.1)
At Event 2 and subsequent, “The Pit Lane order will be allocated by Supercars based on the final classification of the official Team Points report of the previous Event to calculate the Pit Lane order at the next Event.” (Rule D2.1.2.1).
Erebus Motorsport will occupy the first pair of pit garages at the Thrifty Bathurst 500 this month, having won its maiden teams’ championship title in 2023.
