How does the new procedure work?

In case of a major incident, and in addition to a Slow Zone or Full Course Yellow, the Race Director may decide to neutralise the race by deploying the Safety Car. Here's how that will be done this year:

• Three Safety Cars take the track (A, B and C).
• At the end of an incident, Safety Cars B and C leave the track and all cars group behind Safety Car A (called merging).
• All cars with their class leader behind them are eligible for a pass-around allowing them to join the back of the field by overtaking the Safety Car and going around the entire circuit.
• Then, the field is arranged by class thanks to a drop-back. It affects all classes, but only LMP2s and LMGTE Ams will make a move. The LMP2s will get on the right side of the track and let themselves be overtaken by the field, then the LMGTE Ams will do the same. After that, the field is in order with Hypercars, LMP2s and LMGTE Ams each lined up behind their respective leader.

Why the new procedure?

After each running of the 24 Hours, a debriefing takes place with the competitors in order to understand the race and how the regulations applied practically. The Safety Car procedure was contested in 2018 in the LMGTE Pro class, and the competitors asked to review the procedure. A long process of analysis and testing have been carried out over the past five years, culminating in this new procedure tested and approved last Sunday during Test Day.

How long does it last?

The new procedure is separated into two phases. The first is related to safety through the intervention of the three Safety Cars. The amount of time required will vary depending on the incident and duration of the intervention. The second is the sporting phase which (if all goes well) should take about 10 minutes.

Note: this new procedure will not apply during the last hour of the race and the old procedure with the three Safety Cars will be used.