IndyCar have released a statement on push to pass changes following a software glitch on the final restart at the previous round at Long Beach.
The series confirmed on Tuesday morning local time that the drivers will now be able to use it on starts and restarts on road and street courses. It had previously been disabled on first laps in both cases. This will also be the case in Indy NXT.
In a press release, the series confirmed 12 drivers exploited the software glitch at round 4. Scott McLaughlin, Nolan Siegel, Kyffin Simspon, Alex Palou, David Malukas, Wanting Ferrucci, Graham Rahal, Romain Grosjean, Louis Foster, Felix Rosenqvist, Marcus Armstrong and Rinus VeeKay all used it.
The Swede pressed it on three occasions for 18.5 seconds, while Palou did it for 15.1s. According to the series, Rahal tiny push was 0.0s.
While the #66 did pass car #14, they said “based on the findings and the fact INDYCAR Officiating did not view this as a team or driver infraction, no changes were made to the official results”.
Full IndyCar statement on push to pass changes
INDYCAR has announced an update for Push to Pass usage for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone.
Beginning with this week’s events on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and for all subsequent road and street circuit races, Push to Pass – a driver-controlled system that provides roughly 60 extra horsepower via increased turbocharger boost – will be available and allowed for use at all times once the car passes the alternate start-finish line following the start and once the green flag has been displayed.
Expanded availability, which now includes use on race restarts, will provide teams and drivers additional tools and overtake possibilities during the crucial moments of race restarts. The rule prohibiting passing prior to the restart line remains in effect.
President J. Douglas Boles said:
“The Push to Pass software failure at the Streets of Long Beach allowed INDYCAR an opportunity to fully review the rules of the system and consider any improvements, including leaving Push to Pass available on restarts.
“Push to Pass is a driver and team enhancement, which has evolved since its introduction in 2009, and – working with stakeholders – we believe it’s time for this additional update.
“While maybe ironic on how we transitioned to this procedural revision, we look forward to seeing how this new opportunity to use Push to Pass will enhance strategy and the potential for even more wheel-to-wheel action.
”Push to Pass timing parameters, including time and maximum time per push, remain unchanged.
“This has been a superb example of INDYCAR Officiating and INDYCAR working together to provide our sport outcomes that will greatly benefit on-track competition.
“We are confident in the update to the software and are gratified with the outcome of this full review.”
