Starting with this weekend’s Long Beach event, the IndyCar series has modified the way the two groups of competitors will be divided for qualifying in order to balance the two groups.
In the previous road/street circuit events, a random draw was used to determine the drivers of the two groups.
But starting this weekend, group allocation will be decided using Friday’s practice results, with all cars in odd numbered positions (first, third, fifth and on) to be part of group 1 while the 'even' cars will run in the other.
It is hoped this will lead to more evenly-balanced qualifying groups than the random draw, which has sometimes seen one group notably stronger than the other.
In the previous road/street circuit events, a random draw was used to determine the drivers of the two groups.
But starting this weekend, group allocation will be decided using Friday’s practice results, with all cars in odd numbered positions (first, third, fifth and on) to be part of group 1 while the 'even' cars will run in the other.
It is hoped this will lead to more evenly-balanced qualifying groups than the random draw, which has sometimes seen one group notably stronger than the other.