THE wave-by rule has been axed for the opening round of Supercars’ Ryco Enduro Cup.
V8 Sleuth understands the rule sometimes known in Supercars as the ‘lucky dog’ will not be in effect at next month’s AirTouch 500 at The Bend.
It will, however, remain in place for the Repco Bathurst 1000 in October.
The wave-by procedure was introduced to Supercars endurance racing at the 2020 Great Race as a way of keeping more cars on the lead lap.
It works by allowing lapped cars to unlap themselves towards the end of a Safety Car period, provided the conditions are safe to do so (i.e. typically the wave-by is not granted in wet weather).
The process is relatively smooth to deploy at Mount Panorama, whereby lapped cars get released out of Forrest’s Elbow and have the chance to build a gap before the race leader takes the field back to green.
And the proof has been in the pudding, with between 16 and 20 lead-lap finishers in the past four editions of the Bathurst 1000.
The wave-by however proved problematic at Sandown, causing extended Safety Car periods which was in part to blame for the 2024 race getting cut short.
Just 154 of 161 laps were completed at last year’s Sandown 500 before time certainty was triggered at the end of the 220 minutes allowed.
This time around, a 215-minute window has been scheduled for The Bend 500 race.
That is despite average speed being two percent faster at Sandown; the probability of a Safety Car though is considered much lower at The Bend.
The South Australian enduro will kick off September 14 from 1:45pm local (2:15pm AEST) and is to finish one lap after 5:18pm (5:48pm AEST).