A Virtual Safety Car-style system will be introduced at the 2024 Bathurst 12 Hour.
Known formally as the ‘Full Course Yellow’ (FCY), the system is an extra option available to Race Control, which may still deploy a full Safety Car period if it sees fit.
Pit stop times are also subject to rule changes, although there is carryover in other key areas of the sporting regulations.
Under an FCY, all cars will be required to slow to 80km/h on the instruction of Race Control, within five seconds of yellow flags being displayed.
When the FCY period is about to end, cars will be given a five-second countdown before they are allowed to resume at racing speed.
Pit lane will remain open FCY conditions, while any car exceeding the 80km/h speed limit will be penalised.
Event Director Shane Rudzis said, “The recent visit to the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa with Motorsport Operations Manager, Paul Martin, gave us the opportunity to observe the FCY process that is used during the race, we had the opportunity to participate in a test of the system to fully understand how we could possibly implement it into the Bathurst 12 Hour event.
“The ability to neutralise the field very quickly is important for safety especially at a circuit such as Mount Panorama.
“It’s exciting to announce race paperwork open for the 2024 event. We have already received multiple entries for the event, this is the earliest we have had official entries which indicates very positive signs for a full grid come February next year.”
Race Director James Taylor added, “This is an important safety innovation that will be very valuable for the team in Race Control, providing us with an opportunity to prepare the appropriate response for any incident.
“We will of course deploy the Safety Car when it is required, allowing us to bunch up the field and complete recoveries and ensure the safety of all our Officials at the event.
“We’re also pleased to confirm the wave-by system will stay in place as well, another important tool at Race Control’s disposal to keep the world-class race as safe as possible.”
The announcement comes after Supercars’ trial of a Safety Car limiter which is not a VSC as such, but would bring vehicles down to a slower speed rather than racing to the yellow ‘catch-up flags’.
On pit stops for the 2024 Bathurst 12 Hour, a minimum total pit lane time of 85 seconds now applies for any refuelling or driver change stops throughout the race.
Those that do not include refuelling or driver changes, such as tyre-only stops, will not be subject to a minimum time.
Driver categorisations and class allocations are consistent with 2023, while the wave-by system remains.
As before, cars that are one or more laps behind will be allowed to unlap at the conclusion of a Safety Car period, following the commencement of the third hour and prior to the final hour of the race.
The qualifying format which sees Allan Simonsen Pole Position decided across a pair of 15-minute sessions has also made a “permanent return”, according to the announcement from event organisers, after being introduced in 2022.
Race start next year will again be 05:45 local time/AEDT, with a finish at one lap after 17:43.
The event takes place from February 16-18.
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