Bathurst 12H to Introduce Full Course Yellow Procedure

The 2024 edition of the Bathurst 12 Hour will see the implementation of Full Course Yellows for the first time in event history.

The popular Australian enduro, the opening round of next year’s Intercontinental GT Challenge, will introduce a system that will require all cars to slow down to 80 km/h (50 mph) on the instruction of race control.

Event organizers say the adoption of the FCY procedure, which is widely used by various championships worldwide, is designed to give race control another tool to aid recoveries and safely manage on-track incidents during the twelve-hour race.

This year’s edition of the event saw the safety car make just five appearances, covering a mere 16 out of 323 completed laps.

Cars will be required to slow down to FCY speeds within five seconds of yellow flags being shown and proceed at single file, with penalties to be handed out to any cars exceeding the speed limit.

Once racing is able to be resumed, a five-second countdown will be given before cars can return to racing speeds.

The pit lane will remain open during FCY periods, but the safety car can still be deployed after an FCY is declared should the situation require it.

Event director Shane Rudzis indicated that the decision follows after a delegation of the event attended the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa earlier this year.

“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,” said Rudzis.

“The ability to neutralize 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!”

Pitstop Rules Tweaked in Minor Regulation Updates

In addition to the introduction of the FCY system, minor changes have also been made in the event sporting and technical regulations.

All refueling or driver change pitstops throughout the race will now have a minimum total pit lane time of 85 seconds. Stops without refueling or driver changes will not mandate a minimum pitstop time.

Other key event regulations, including driver categorizations and class allocations, have not been changed, while the wave-by system that allow cars one or more laps down to pass the safety car to un-lap themselves between the third and final hour of the race will return.

The current qualifying format has also been retained, while the start time for the event has been set at 5:45 a.m. AEDT (2:45 a.m. EDT). The date for the event has been set for the Feb. 16-18 weekend.