Introducing Standing Starts in 2013

The first standing start of the Verizon IndyCar Series season will be conducted for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 13.

An Indy car standing start was last held on the temporary street circuit for the 2008 Champ Car race. There’s about a half-mile from where the front row will be staged behind the start-finish line to the left-hand Turn 1.

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Highlights of the standing start procedure from Verizon IndyCar Series rulebook include:

Formation laps – The safety car will start the two formation laps and drivers will follow single file in their starting order. The speed of the formation laps will be set by the safety car and no overtaking is allowed. If a car is unable to leave the pre-grid with the rest of the field, it may return to its starting position before the conclusion of the first formation lap.

Grid -- At the end of the formation laps, drivers will take their starting positions with the front wheels of the car remaining within its designated orange grid line.

A five-second signal will be given by illuminating one pair of red lights on the vertical light towers. A countdown to the start will illuminate a pair of red lights every second. After a random delay of between .5 and 4 seconds, the race is started by all the red lights being extinguished.

False Start -- A false start shall be declared when a car moves forward or is out of its assigned position during the light sequence.

Aborted Start – INDYCAR can declare an aborted start before the final row of red lights illuminating in the sequence. In the event of an aborted start, flashing yellows lights will be displayed along the top row of all columns and the countdown lights will freeze. An extra formation lap will be carried out after an aborted start is declared. Any competitor whose actions are determined to be the cause of an aborted start will restart from the rear of the field.

If the second attempt of a standing start results in an aborted start, a rolling start will be implemented.

Long Beach Standing Start Length