Champ Car management and its teams agreed to revoke the
mandatory pit windows for the Brands Hatch event
source: speedtv.com
The drivers and teams of the Bridgestone Presents the Champ
Car World Series Powered by Ford will take to Britain's Brands Hatch circuit
for the first time May 3-5, and the series announced a new set of rules
for the event designed to ensure that the competition level will be the equal of
any series that has participated on the renowned permanent road course.
Addressing drivers' concerns over the ability to get a clear qualifying lap on
the tricky seven-turn, 1.2-mile short course, Champ Car adopted a single-car
qualifying format that will give each competitor six laps to chase the pole
position, with four of those laps being timed.
The running order for the first round of qualifying will be set by practice
times, while Sunday's final qualifying order will be based on the Saturday
results. In accordance with new rules put in place in 2002, there is a single
championship point available to the leaders of both qualifying sessions, and the
fastest car in each session is guaranteed a front-row starting spot for
Monday's 165-lap race.
The other change goes into effect on race day, as Champ Car management and its
teams agreed to revoke the mandatory pit windows for the Brands Hatch event.
Instead, each car will have to complete two pit stops under green-flag
conditions. The green-flag service must include a four-tire change in order to
count toward the two mandatory stops. Teams may pit under caution periods at
will, but can only add fuel to the car, and can only have two team members over
the wall during a yellow-flag stop.