Originally Posted by
Marshall Mauney
This is a key question, regardless of the other alleged PUYs.
Shouldn't the double yellows be dropped at ALL stations at the same time as the green is waved?
This echoes a post I made on another forum:
The controlling language is GCR 6.6.2.B.3.iii.
Drivers must maintain the safety car’s pace and not
improve their positions or begin racing until the green flag
has been displayed to restart the race.
And 6.5.1.G.3 (Starts): ".. Racing begins and passing may occur throughout the field when the green flag is displayed."
Racing throughout the field starts when Start shows the Green. Race Control will (should) direct flag stations to drop their FCY when Start goes Green.
It is good practice for stations not to drop the FCY before notification from Control. This helps prevent a mess if Start waves off the pack for some reason. Also, all stations should drop their FCY at the same instant, again to avoid a situation where part of the pack is racing, and part not.
From a driver's point of view, when the station in front of you drops its FCY, you are good to go. There is ample precedent for this.
On a start, there are three possible scenarios:
1. Start goes Green. Control directs all stations to drop their Yellows, which they do. The entire field starts racing. This is how the process is supposed to work.
2. Start goes Green. A station with line of sight drops its Yellow before Control directs them to, or a station fails to drop its Yellow when directed by Control, or Control is slow in making the call to go Green. Now different parts of the pack are receiving different messages. Chaos ensues.
This is not supposed to happen. Which is why stations should drop their Yellow on command from Control. (And why Control should make the call the instant Start goes Green.)
But you still may not pass under Yellow.
3. Start does not go Green (i.e. waves off the start/restart). This happens seldom, if ever, on restarts. A station nonetheless drops its Yellow. Cars in its span of control start racing. Chaos ensues.
As a practical matter for a driver under FCY, when the station in view drops its Yellow, the driver can start racing. Period. Full stop.
If the station dropped its Yellow prematurely or against instruction, the driver will (should) still be made whole. We do not (should not) punish a driver for someone else's screw-up.
What happens in everyday racing is that stations may respond to the command from Control (to drop the Double Yellow) at different instants. This may advantage some drivers over others. As a driver, my attitude is that this sort of thing evens out over the course of one's racing career.
What also happens is that some drivers may hesitate when the FCY goes away, and drivers who get on the gas instantly gain an advantage. That's racing.