Revised rules under microscope to beat the heat

Supercars’ revised driver health and welfare rules will be under the microscope from the upcoming betr Darwin Triple Crown.

Confirmed in recent weeks, Supercars has tweaked the rules to mandate the use of the helmet air and cool suit when the heat policy is active.

Previously, teams could use three types of cooling, either individually or together — a cool suit, helmet fan and seat cooling — when the ambient forecast is above 32.9 degrees.

The new regulations will be in place from Darwin onwards, with the Hidden Valley round traditionally one of the hottest events of the season.

Via sensors on the cars, Supercars officials monitor temperature readings in real time. Under the new policy, Supercars can refer a competitor to the stewards should the helmet air or cool suit malfunction individually.

However, according to Supercars Category Technical Manager Perry Kapper, failure of both methods could see a car pulled out of a race.

“This rule change ensures it’s clear cut and defined,” Kapper told Supercars.com.

"Previously, there wasn't any requirement to have redundancy, and making the two methods mandatory achieves that.”

Officials can instruct a team to pit a car if its driver cooling systems are not working. Notably, Cam Waters was forced to stop at the 2019 Adelaide 500 after his cool suit stopped working.

The crackdown comes after Sydney, where Broc Feeney, Will Brown and David Reynolds all received attention after cool suit issues in the finale. No teams were deemed to have breached the rules.

However, Team 18 was fined over an issue with the helmet air system in Anton De Pasquale’s car during the Top Ten Shootout.

When asked if a car could be black-flagged under the revised rules, Kapper replied: “Yes, 100%.

“We're monitoring each car in real time, and should there be a breach, that car will be referred to the stewards.”

Track action in Darwin commences on Friday June 19.