The NTT IndyCar Series has published the latest rulebook that will apply to the upcoming season, and there are a few small changes to note
The most consequential sporting change could be a rewording of the rule that define blocking, as it has been clarified beyond the previous language used.
Previous versions for rule 9.3.2, which defines what IndyCar considered blocking, read “Driver must not alter his/her racing line to pursuing Drivers.”
The new wording is more specific, stating “Any Driver who moves in reaction, altering their line based on the actions of pursuing Competitors, may be penalized.”
This change is in coordination with IndyCar planned enforcement of weaving on the straights during the Indianapolis 500, which came to light a couple weeks ago.
Specific details about how the new rules will be enforced have not yet been made clear, but the foundation is now there for Race Control to work from.
On the technical side, the new rulebook reveals exactly how much less the cars will weigh starting with this weekend’s Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
All cars will have new components that are built to accept the upcoming hybrid powertrain parts, and they are noticeably lighter as well.
A specific effort was made to lighten various parts of the car to help offset the added weight of the electric drivetrain. But since those parts will not be fitted until later in the year, the cars will race with a bit less bulk for the first few rounds of the season.
Overall, cars are now 25 pounds lighter than they were last season. The road and street course configuration dropped from 1700 pounds to 1675 pounds, while the speedway configuration used at the Indy 500 goes from 1655 pounds to 1630 pounds.
The decreased weight is expected to translate to faster lap times, and possibly allow some track records to be broken in the first part of the season.
Other new details in the rulebook reveal that there will no longer be an alternate tire compound used for the oval race at World Wide Technology Raceway, commonly referred to as Gateway.
The 1.25-mile oval used two compounds of tires in 2023 as a test to see if the competing tires would produce more exciting strategy calls.
Although the experiment was largely trouble-free, there was not much in the way of additional consequences to the various strategies. In light of that, it seems the series will continue to use the alternate tire compound for road and street courses only.
One other change is the altering of what size track is considered the limit between a short oval and a superspeedway.
The limit was changed from 1.3 miles to 1.4 miles, which neatly pushes the newly-appointed Nashville Superspeedway, at 1.33 miles in length, into the short oval category despite the track’s name.
That means the race will be run with IndyCar’s high downforce wing package, and leaves the Indianapolis 500 as the only race on the calendar that will run the slimmer front and rear wings.
The first race where the new rules will be in effect is this upcoming weekend, with the event taking place on the streets of St. Petersburg on March 10.
