Qualifying Tweak Made For Road Courses

Segment 2 of IZOD IndyCar Series road/street course qualifications has been reduced from 15 to 10 minutes, pursuant to a bulletin the sanctioning body sent to teams.

The alteration will take effect April 9 at Barber Motorsports Park during the three rounds of qualifying for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by Legacy. The segment winnows the 12 cars that advanced from Groups 1 and 2 in the first segment to six — based on quickest lap time — to compete in the Firestone Fast Six that determines the PEAK Performance Pole Award winner and sets the first three rows for the race.

"It's a combination of the new rule that allows one set of tires, either primaries or alternates, per segment and the 12 cars in Segment 2 that have clearly demonstrated the ability to be quick so they don't need the 15 minutes," said Brian Barnhart, president of competition and operations for INDYCAR.

A breakdown of each segment:

Segment 1

All cars shall participate in one of the two groups for 15 minutes per group inclusive of full-course yellow conditions, with six cars posting best lap times from each group advancing to Segment 2.

Cars not advancing to Segment 2 will fill positions 13 through the end of the starting field to be ranked in order of best lap time as follows: Group 1 shall occupy the odd-numbered positions beginning with 13 and Group 2 will occupy the even-numbered positions beginning with 14.

Note: Cars are randomly assigned to Group 1 or 2 earlier in the day.

Segment 2

Shall consist of one 10-minute, 12-car qualifying group inclusive of full-course yellow conditions, with all times from Segment 1 having been voided. Six cars posting best lap times advance to Segment 3 (the Firestone Fast Six). Cars not advancing to Segment 3 will fill positions 7-12 to be ranked in order of time.

Segment 3 (Firestone Fast Six)

Consists of one 10-minute, six-car qualifying group, of which five minutes is guaranteed green condition time, with all times from Segment 2 voided. Session shall begin 10 minutes after checkered flag of Segment 2. Firestone Fast Six shall determine the PEAK Pole Award winner and the cars starting 2-6 on the grid based on fastest lap time.