Pace car?qsrc=3044

Mercedes-Benz SLK pace car of the German Touring Car Championship (DTM) at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

In motorsport, a safety car or pace car is a car which limits the speed of competing cars on a racetrack in the case of a caution period such as an obstruction on the track. During a caution period the safety car enters the track ahead of the leader. Competitors are not allowed to pass the safety car or other competitors during a caution period, and the safety car leads the field at a pre-determined safe speed, which may vary by series and circuit. At the end of the caution period, the safety car leaves the track and the competitors may resume racing.

In production automobiles, a safety car is one which highlights safety features (see automobile safety).

Implications

Two Superleague Formula safety cars in the paddock at Silverstone Circuit

The use of a safety car has the side effect of pushing all the competitors together, so any time advantage of one car over another that remains on the same lap is virtually eliminated. This "drawing together" effect can make racing more competitive; conversely, it can be viewed as preventing faster drivers and cars from receiving appropriate rewards for their efforts.

It is common in many forms of racing for drivers to make pitstops during the safety car situation. This way, they can form back up behind the back after refueling and changing tires (and perhaps making more advanced adjustments which would normally cost too much time to be practical in racing conditions). Any other drivers who have to pit within the next few laps would then fall behind this car when they make their pitstop under green-flag conditions.

Cars use less fuel while running under safety car (usually approximately half as much as under racing conditions), which can allow drivers to run longer on a tank of fuel than expected, and in some cases means being able to make one fewer pitstop.

Formula One

Mercedes-Benz supplies its Mercedes-AMG models to the Formula One Championship as safety cars

In Formula One or other road racing events if an accident or heavy rain prevents normal racing from continuing safely, the Race Director or Clerk of Course will call for the marshalls to wave yellow flags and hold SC boards, warning drivers that the safety car has been deployed. From 2007, all Formula Cars must have LEDs fitted to the steering wheel, which inform the driver which flags are being waved. A yellow LED is illuminated when the safety car has been deployed.

Bernd Mayländer, the current safety car driver as of 2010. The safety car driver is employed by the FIA.

The F1 Safety Car (SC) has both yellow and green lights mounted on its roof in the form of a light bar; the green light allows the driver just behind the SC to pass. Once the race leader is right behind the SC, the yellow lights go on. This car is to be operated by a professional driver—currently Bernd Mayländer—and must maintain a good speed so that the tires on the racecars can stay at operating temperature and at the same time avoid engine overheating. The driver of the Safety Car also has a co-driver.

The first use of the Safety Car in Formula One was at the 1973 Canadian Grand Prix. However, the Safety Car took its place in front of the wrong driver, which placed part of the field incorrectly one lap down. It took several hours after the end of the race to straighten out who the winner actually was.^[1] Starting from the 1993 season, safety car was introduced to official rules. It was used in Brazilian and British Grands Prix that year.

To date, only the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix,^[2] the 2009 Australian Grand Prix,^[3] the 2009 Italian Grand Prix^[4] and the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix have finished behind the safety car in Formula One.

The race has been started under safety car conditions six times due to wet conditions: 1997 Belgian Grand Prix, 2000 Belgian Grand Prix, 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix, the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix, the 2008 Italian Grand Prix and the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix. The same procedure was also used in the restart of 1994 Japanese Grand Prix and of the 2007 European Grand Prix. When this happens, there is no warm-up lap - the race is considered to be underway as soon as the cars leave the grid, so any driver who can't get away before the safety car returns will go a lap down.

In Formula One, during the one lap to green, the SC will have the lights on until it is a few turns away from the pits and the lights will go out. That notifies the drivers that they will be racing in a few moments.

When required, the safety car will lead the field around the circuit at reduced speed.

For incidents during the first three laps, the safety car also has an advantage over the traditional red flag; in a red flag, it would take a minimum of fifteen minutes to restart the race, and the two-hour limit would not start until the cars are ready for a second reconnaissance or formation lap. With regards to the time limit, the race is being scored and the time is also counting while a Safety Car period happens, and the race resumes.

From 2007, two new procedures were instituted, which were applied for the first time during the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The pit lane was closed immediately upon the deployment of the safety car. No car could enter the pits for the purpose of refuelling until all cars on the track had formed up in a line behind the safety car, they passed the pit entrance, and the message "pit lane open" was given. A ten second stop/go penalty (which must be taken when the race is green again) was imposed on any driver who entered the pit lane and whose car was refuelled before the pitlane open message is given; effectively these drivers were penalised for choosing to remain in the race, rather than running out of fuel. However, any car which was in the pit entry or pit lane when the safety car was deployed would not incur a penalty.

From 2009, however, this procedure has been dropped, and replaced by software that calculates where a car is on the track and a minimum laptime it should take the car to get to the pits. Cars that enter the pits before this time limit has expired are penalised.

When the safety car and the drivers behind it are on the start/finish straight, there is a red light at the exit of the pit lane. Drivers who go past the red light are disqualified from the race. This has happened to several drivers during the years, such as Giancarlo Fisichella and Felipe Massa in the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix. At the same race a year later Lewis Hamilton failed to notice the red light and slammed into the back of the car of Kimi Räikkönen, who was waiting at the end of the pitlane alongside Robert Kubica.

When the circuit has been cleared of the incident that caused the safety car to be deployed, the message "lapped cars may now overtake" is given. Any lapped cars which are between the cars running on the lead lap at the time the safety car was deployed are required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car. They must then proceed around the track at an appropriate speed, without overtaking, and take up position at the back of the line of cars behind the safety car. This change ensures that all cars on the lead lap run consecutive to each other, eliminating any advantage a driver may have had in having lapped cars between himself and a rival. This was introduced after a backmarker failed to get out of the way on a restart at 2006 Australian Grand Prix, thus extending the leader's advantage.

For the 2004 and 2005 seasons, the safety car was a (tuned) Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG. For the 2006 and 2007 seasons the newer Mercedes-Benz CLK 63 AMG was used. For the 2008 season, the safety car was based on the SL 63. It has a 220 kg (485 lb) weight reduction and the same V8 engine as the CLK63, but tuned to produce 525 bhp (391 kW; 532 PS). This was the eighth Mercedes-Benz - AMG model used as the Safety Car in Formula One.^[5]

The 2010 Safety Car is based on the gull-wing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. The V8 supercar is the fastest F1 safety car ever. It made its debut at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix. ^[6]

Indianapolis 500

See also List of Indianapolis 500 pace cars

Chevrolet Camaro Z28, pace car in the 1993 Indianapolis 500.

The officials at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway have been selecting a pace car and its driver for the Indy 500 each year the race has been held since 1911. The first pace car was a Stoddard-Dayton driven by Carl G. Fisher. In recent years Chevrolet models have been chosen as the official pace car, owing to the ability for them to be used at both major automobile races at the Speedway (typically Corvette at the 500 and Impala at the 400). The pace car is selected two months before the race runs, allowing the manufacturer of the selected pace car to produce replicas of that year's car, which sell at a marked premium to collectors and race fans. Pace car replicas are often seen on the streets of Indianapolis weeks before the race is actually held, and a celebrity driver is usually used for the start of the race only. For the 2010 Indy 500, the Chevrolet Camaro was chosen as the Official Pace Car, with Robin Roberts driving the pace car at the start.

Automakers compete for the prestige of having one of their models selected as the year's pace car for the publicity. In 1971, the move backfired as no automakers stepped up to provide a pace car. Instead, local Indianapolis-area Dodge dealers fulfilled the duty. Eldon Palmer, a local dealer, lost control of the Dodge Challenger pace car and crashed into a photography stand, injuring several people. The blame for the crash was never fully determined, as officials realized that an orange cone (or perhaps an orange flag), which was to identify Palmer's braking point, was accidentally removed.

In the last 50 years, the Pontiac Trans Am, Chevrolet Camaro, Chevrolet Corvette, Oldsmobile Cutlass, and Ford Mustang are the only models that have been selected as pace cars three or more times.

The pace car leads the field past an accident site at the 2007 Indianapolis 500.

During the IndyCar Series season, however, Johnny Rutherford is the normal driver of the IRL pace car for all events. The pace car is deployed for debris, collision, or weather reasons. Since 1993, upon the waving of the yellow flag, pit road is closed until the pace car picks up the leader and he passes the pit entrance the first time, unless track blockage forces the field to drive through pit lane. Another duty of the pace car is to lead the field around the course on parade laps prior to the start of the race. These increase in speed, allowing for a flying start of the race.

Furthermore, two other rule changes have been implemented. Since 2000, with one lap to go before going back to green, the pace car pulls off the track in turn one rather than in turn four. The current leader of the race is then assigned the task of pacing the field back to the green flag. After much consideration, this rule was added to prevent a situation much like the one that happened in the 1995 Indianapolis 500, when Scott Goodyear passed the pace car going back to green. In 2002, another rule was added. With one lap to go before the green, the pace car waves by all cars (if there are any) between the pace car and the actual leader of the race. This allows for the leader to control the restart without lapped cars being in front of him. It also creates a strategy for cars to gain laps back, loosely resembling the "Lucky dog" rule. However, the cars who get waved around are not allowed to pit until the green flag restarts the race (so they do not get the advantage of getting their lap back AND a free pit stop).

NASCAR

2001 Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) pace car - a modified 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP coupe

In all NASCAR series, if the caution is out for debris, accident, or inclement weather, the flagman will display the yellow caution flag and the pace car ^[7] will pull out of the pits and turn on the yellow strobes on top and/or behind the car. One lap before a green flag, the pace car will shut off its lights to signal drivers that a green flag is coming.

Unlike most series in motorsport, each track usually offers their own safety car, typically from the manufacturer, but in recent years, it has been a local dealer or association of regional dealerships-provided safety car. Typically, a Toyota Camry Hybrid (the dominant brand in NASCAR, as the majority of tracks now use Toyota safety cars) or Ford Mustang is the safety car for most Sprint Cup races. Some tracks use a Chevrolet Camaro as the safety car, while the Talladega Superspeedway, the only Sprint Cup track with a Chrysler contract, uses a Ram 1500 as the safety truck. For the Camping World Truck Series, tracks affiliated with a local or regional Chevrolet dealership will use a Chevrolet Silverado, while Chrysler dealership affiliated tracks (such as Gateway International Raceway) will use a Ram 1500. Ford and Toyota-affiliated tracks typically prefer using their Mustang and Camry Hybrid, respectively.

Since NASCAR does not allow speedometers or electronic speed limiting devices, the pace car circles the track at pit road speed during the warm-up laps. This allows each driver to note the RPM at which pit road speed is maintained. Drivers exceeding that speed on pit road will be penalized, typically a "drive-through" or "stop and go" penalty, costing them valuable track position.

The pace car leads the field in a NASCAR Nationwide Series race

Since mid-2004, NASCAR official Brett Bodine has driven the vehicle during official race functions during Sprint Cup Series races. Other famous NASCAR pace car drivers include Robert "Buster" Auton and Elmo Langley.

The Beneficiary Rule (informally known as the "Lucky dog" rule) states once the safety car is deployed, the first car not on the lead lap will regain a lap. Initially, the free pass was deployed on the one lap to go signal, then on two laps to go signal, but after that controversy, the current rule was applied so the free pass car will regain his lap once pit road opens. Bodine will signal that car to pass him through radio contact between NASCAR and that team. The free pass car must pit with the lapped cars.

In 2009, NASCAR introduced a new "Double-file restart" rule that lines the field two cars on each row on every restart, similar to the start of the race, instead of lead-lap cars on the outside and lapped cars on the inside. Also, the "wave-around" rule, similar to what is enforced in the Indy Racing League was adopted to ensure the first car on the restart is the leader, and ensure there are no lapped cars ahead of the leader.

Controversies involving safety cars

2009 WTCC Pau

An accident occurred during the 2009 World Touring Car Championship meeting at Pau, France. A succession of first-lap accidents caused the safety car to be placed on standby, with yellow flags waving on the start-finish section of the track. The safety car driver then proceeded to drive onto the track at slow speed, without official approval^[8], moving across it and passing the white line which traditionally delineates the track from the pitlane. Race leader Franz Engstler came through the kink on the start-finish straight and was unable to avoid hitting the side of the pace car.^[9]. Engstler commented "I saw the safety car coming out from the right and realized that I had no chance to brake... I really do not understand why he was going out of the pits"^[10]

2002 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix

At the 2002 Brazilian Grand Prix, Alex Ribeiro, the Medical Car driver, was involved in a potentially serious incident. During the morning warm-up on race day, Enrique Bernoldi crashed his Arrows in Turn 2. When Ribeiro went out to check on Bernoldi, he opened the door to the car. Just as he opened it, Nick Heidfeld came along in his Sauber, and smashed into the open door. Both Heidfeld and Ribeiro were uninjured in the incident.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Safety cars Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pace cars

Formula One

• Formula1.com: Safety car
• An article on the F1 Safety Car
• The speed freak in F1's safety car - from BBC Sport: Motorsport

Indianapolis 500

• Indy 500 Pace Cars
• Front-Runners.net - Charger Pace Car PDF