Safety car was on track for longer than fans liked
Julien Defosse/DPPI
Le Mans has introduced a new safety car procedure for the 2023 race after its previous system, involving three safety cars on the 8.47 mile circuit, was criticised for artificially affecting the results.
After a trial at last weekend’s Test Day, the new method — which involves a different and lengthier restart process — was called into action immediately, as a lap one crash in the 24 Hour race, triggered a 30min safety car period.
Rain on Saturday evening brought chaotic scenes
It was used again, two hours later, when heavy rain on one part of the circuit sent cars spinning into the barriers in chaotic scenes. But this time, the safety car was out for an hour, with at least 20min spent on the restart procedure.
It brought derision from TV viewers commenting on social media, and obvious boredom amongst the crowd. It follows criticism from teams, including Toyota, who believe it works against competitors that have built up an advantage on track, but organisers think the racing benefits outweigh the lengthier delays. Here’s how it works and why it was introduced:
Previously, an incident requiring more than a full course yellow (requiring cars to go slowly throughout the lap) would see three safety cars circulate. Drivers had to remain behind the first safety car they encountered until the end of the period when they were released in their groups. This could result in artificial gaps being created between rivals.
The 2023 system still uses safety cars but, instead of releasing the cars in groups when an incident is cleared, it now adds extra stages to the restart.
Firstly, two safety cars return to the pits, allowing all cars to line up behind one.
Then, any cars ahead of their class leader — in any category — can overtake the safety car and drive round the circuit until they reach the back of the queue. As long as cars have not been lapped, this then puts them in close proximity to the lead, even if they were previously minutes behind the leading car.
The field is sorted again‚ according to category. Firstly LMP2 cars move to the right of the field, and any cars in other categories overtake them. This is then repeated by the GTE cars to create a line of Hypercars, followed by LMP2 cars, and then GTE Am cars.
At that point, racing can resume.
The new system won’t be applied in the final hour of the race, when then old three-car system is used.
After testing it, Le Mans 24 Hours organiser, the ACO estimated that it would add ten minutes to safety car periods, but the first attempts appear closer to 20min.
The ACO stated that it dates back to the 2018 race, where an early safety car period effectively decided the result of the GTE Pro category. It was called just after the No92 Porsche pitted — a lap before its rivals.
Unpredictable rain on patches of the circuit led to a series of crashes in the opening hours of the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours, affecting some frontrunners
This left the No92 car in the train behind one safety car which, by the time its rivals stopped, had passed the pit exit. They then had to wait to join the next safety car queue, to maintain an empty gap between the groups.
The No92 car gained a 2min cushion and maintained it to the end of the race.
Since then, the ACO has carried out “a long process of analysis and testing” to come up with the new format.