Drivers back Full Course Yellow system after Gold Coast trial

Chaz Mostert, Le Brocq and Cam Waters completed FCY test on Friday morning
Bulk of the field took part in another trial following Practice 2
Mostert, Le Brocq back system after trials

Chaz Mostert and Jack Le Brocq have backed the Full Course Yellow (FCY) system after a trial at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.

Mostert, Le Brocq and Cam Waters completed a procedure test on Friday morning before before the bulk of the field took part in another trial following Practice 2. A FCY procedure will also be tested in Adelaide.

Under the system, Race Control can clear minor incidents without deploying the Safety Car.

The Gold Coast trial was a 15-second countdown for drivers to reduce speed to 80km/h and activate a speed limiter.

The FCY system, similar to Formula One’s Virtual Safety Car, could be adopted in 2024, and Mostert and Le Brocq were both pleased after Friday’s trial.

"Both sessions were exactly the same in my car, [but] I don’t know if anyone else reported that their systems weren’t working,” said Mostert, who suggested further revisions to how drivers are notified on their dashes.

“It’s a very similar system to overseas. Obviously, I think a big yellow bar at the bottom [of the dashboard]... I think we could probably make that look a little bit nicer from a spectacle point of view, if we’re using camera eyes in the helmet.

“Some of us drivers... fall asleep under those conditions a little bit, so if we could make the dash change in a certain point when it is going to count down from five seconds to release to show us a little bit of a different spectacle than just being under that Full Course Yellow procedure.

“Personally, it seems to be working.”

Mostert cited an incident at the start of the season involving Le Brocq, who crashed at the fast back straight at Albert Park. Le Brocq’s stricken car was passed by rivals who were at speed.

The Walkinshaw Andretti United driver is no stranger to similar systems, having racing in the Spa 24 Hour race earlier this year.

“If we go back to the start of the year at Grand Prix, we’ve got cars passing car in the fence at 200km/h,” Mostert explained.

“So, it’s all about being safer, and I feel like other categories around the world have already implemented that.

“I came from the Spa 24 Hour, with a very similar system there for day and night, and it was flawless except there were probably a little bit less clear rules on the what that 15 seconds of racing does.

“There was a massive crash at Spa, but it was because one driver was trying to take advantage of the 15-second countdown to pass another car.

“So, as long as there’s clarity around that and what we’re supposed to do when a Full Course Yellow comes up, we’ll all learn to get around it.

“But, it’s obviously for a safety thing. We don’t want to be doing what we did at Grand Prix because, one little slip-up, and we might not all be here.”

Le Brocq, who finished behind Shane van Gisbergen and Mostert in Practice 2, added: “I think it was actually pretty decent.

“Across both sessions, it seemed to work pretty well. It was easy enough to turn on and off.

“Obviously, it’ll be nicer when it’s on the steering wheel eventually, when they adapt that.

“But other than that, I think it probably served its purpose.”