Supercars to trial Full Course Yellow system at Gold Coast
Supercars, Motorsport Australia to conduct FCY trial at Gold Coast 500
FCY system, similar to F1's VSC, could be an extra option available in 2024
Another trial will take place at Adelaide 500
With an eye on revising Safety Car procedure, Supercars and Motorsport Australia will conduct a ‘Full Course Yellow’ (FCY) trial at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.
The FCY system, similar to the Virtual Safety Car system used in Formula One, could be an extra option available to Motorsport Australia Race Control in Supercars in 2024.
In the event of an on-track hazard, the Race Director would declare a FCY, with drivers given 15 seconds to reduce their speed to 80km/h. Drivers would hold 80km/h until the FCY is rescinded, or the decision is made to deploy a full Safety Car.
A 10-minute FCY procedure trial is set to take place immediately after both practice sessions on the Friday of the Gold Coast event, which will be held on October 27-29.
Supercars and Motorsport Australia are also set to undertake another trial, with a 10-second slowdown period to reduce speeds to 80km/h, at the VAILO Adelaide 500.
After reviews of the Gold Coast and Adelaide trials, a final decision on the required slowdown time will be made for the 2024 Operations Manual.
Earlier this year, it was announced that a FCY system will be introduced at the 2024 Bathurst 12 Hour.
Per the FCY system, the Race Director will declare a FCY period should it be necessary for safety reasons, such as a car being stopped in a dangerous location, whenever recovery vehicles are working near the track, or marshals are working close to the track.
A FCY period will be deemed to be in operation from the moment a FCY countdown is declared. Waved yellow flags and FCY boards will be shown at all flag posts. Drivers will be notified by flag posts, and/or the in car warning system, and/or the RMC and/or the timing screen.
At this point, drivers must reduce speed to 80km/h or lower within 15 seconds, and must activate their Safety Car Speed Limiter.
Overtaking, except for safety reasons accepted as such by the Race Director, is forbidden from the moment that FCY boards are displaced, which may be before yellow flags are waved and a FCY countdown has been declared on the RMC.
Under a FCY, cars must proceed at a constant speed in single file. Speeds will be monitored — any car exceeding 80km/h will be reported to the Motorsport Australia Stewards, and a penalty may be imposed.
Like a VSC in F1, each lap completed under FCY conditions will be counted as a race lap. The pit lane entry and exit will remain open, but the pit entry and pit exit roads will be subject to a maximum speed of 80 km/h.
Once the problem is resolved, drivers will be given a countdown of five seconds before the track returns to green flag conditions. At this point, each driver must deactivate their SC Speed Limiter.
Should the FCY system be adopted, the Race Director may still deploy a full Safety Car period if it sees fit. The maximum speed of 80km/h would still apply for the entirety of the SC Intervention Procedure unless otherwise notified by the Race Director over the RMC.
Unlike a full Safety Car period, drivers won’t bunch up for a restart. However, drivers will bunch together for a restart should a full Safety Car be deployed.
The FCY trial comes after Supercars, in consultation with leading drivers, Supercars and Motorsport Australia, removed the tyre bundles from the beach chicane following extensive research to enhance the timing loops in the beach chicane and Turns 1/2/3 areas.
Heading into next weekend’s penultimate round of the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship, Brodie Kostecki holds a 131-point championship lead over defending champion and Repco Bathurst 1000 winner Shane van Gisbergen.
The Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 runs next week from October 27-29 at the famous Surfers Paradise street circuit. Tickets are on sale now through Supercars.com and Ticketek.
