Cars - Safety car

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	Cars - Safety car

In auto racing, a safety car (known in America as the pace car) is a car which limits the speed of competing cars on a racetrack in the case of a major accident or obstruction on the track. In production automobiles, a safety car is one which highlights safety features.

Formula One

In Formula One or other road racing events, if there is some incident (such as an accident blocking parts of the track, or very heavy rain) meaning that normal racing cannot continue safely, corner workers will call for a full course yellow flag and show boards saying "SC" meaning that the safety car has been deployed. The F1 Safety Car (SC) has both yellow and green lights on it; the green light allows the driver just behind the SC to pass. Once the race leader is right behind the SC, the yellow lights go on. This car is to be operated by a professional driver—currently Bernd Maylander—and must maintain a good speed so that the tires on the racecars can stay at operating temperature.

The first use of the Safety Car in Formula One was at the 1973 Canadian Grand Prix. However, the Safety Car took its place in front of the wrong driver, which placed part of the field incorrectly one lap down. It took several hours after the end of the race to straighten out who the winner actually was.

Formula One did not use the Safety Car again until the 1993 Brazilian Grand Prix.

To date, the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix is the only Formula One race to finish behind the Safety Car.

In Formula One, during the one lap to green, the SC will have the lights on until it is a few turns away from the pits and the lights will go out. That notifies the drivers that they will be racing in a few minutes.

Since the start of the 2004 season, the safety car has been a (tuned) Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG. For the 2006 season the new CLK 63 AMG will be used.

The 1973 Canadian Grand Prix was not the only controversy for the Formula One Safety Car. During the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, the race director decided to order the safety car (Driven by Max Angeletti at the time) out after two cars (J.J. Lehto in the Benneton-Ford and Pedro Lamy in the Lotus-Mugen Honda) wrecked during the start (in a crash that was frighteningly similar to the 1982 crash that killed Riccardo Paletti), rather than put the race under a red flag, and subsequently have the cars restart. This decision caused the temperature in the cars' tires to fall, a circumstance to which the death of Ayrton Senna later in the race was partially attributed.

The use of a safety car has the side effect of pushing all the competitors together, so any time advantage of one car over another that remains on the same lap is virtually eliminated. This "drawing together" effect can make racing more competitive; conversely, it can be viewed as preventing faster drivers and cars from receiving appropriate rewards for their efforts.

Indianapolis 500

:See also List of Indianapolis 500 pace cars The officials at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway have been selecting a pace car and its driver for the Indy 500 each year the race has been held since 1911. The first pace car was a Stoddard-Dayton driven by Carl G. Fisher. Chevrolet models have been chosen as the official pace car numerous times. The pace car is selected two months before the race runs, allowing the manufacturer of the selected pace car to produce replicas of that year's car, which sell at a marked premium to collectors and race fans. Pace car replicas are often seen on the streets of Indianapolis weeks before the race is actually held. For the 2005 Indy 500, the Chevrolet Corvette was chosen as the Official Pace Car yet again, with General Colin Powell driving the pace car for the start.

Automakers compete for the prestige of having one of their models selected as the year's pace car for the publicity. In 1971 it backfired for Chrysler Corporation and local Indianapolis-area Dodge dealers. Eldon Palmer lost control of the Dodge Challenger pace car and crashed into a photography stand, injuring several people. The blame for the crash was never fully determined, as officials realized that an orange cone (or perhaps an orange flag), which was to identify Palmer's braking point, was accidentally removed.

In the last 50 years, the Pontiac Trans Am, Chevrolet Camaro, Chevrolet Corvette, Oldsmobile Cutlass, and Ford Mustang are the only models that have been selected as pace car three or more times.

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