Safety Car

Since the 2020 season, the German Carrera Cup uses Porsche Taycan as safety cars. The fully electric grand tourer made its debut during that year's season opener supporting the 24-hour race at Le Mans.

The safety car is deployed by the race director whenever dangerous situations on the track require neutralisation. For instance in case of crashes and the related resuce works or in case of severe, sudden change of the weather. The safety car moves ahead of the leader at a comparatively slow pace. The rest of the field is allowed to catch up and line up behind the safety car, thereby wiping out any gaps that may have formed previously. When the safety car returns to the pits, the race restarts with all cars in a line behind the leader at the finish line. Overtaking is only permitted again after the finish line.

The safety car is driven by the dedicated safety-car driver of the host-series. During DTM rounds, this is Jürgen Kastenhalz (DEU). During rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) it is Pedro Couceiro (POR). Both are very experienced in their profession.

The Taycan Turbo GT can run up to 260 kph or 162 mph top speed. However, when deployed during the race, the speed will be reduced to ensure safety on the track.

Both Safety-Car (SC) and Full-Course-Yellow (FCY) are tools for the race director to neutralize the race temporarily if needed. If a dangerous situation on the track can be resolved quickly (e.g. by pulling a vehicle out of a gravel trap), race control can trigger a “Full Course Yellow' phase”. Upon receiving a radio command from race control, all drivers must reduce their speed to a maximum of 80 km/h simultaneously. Again at the command of race control, drivers may resume racing speed. If the clean-up takes longer than expected, race control can additionally send out the safety car replacing “Full Course Yellow”. The advantage of a “Full Course Yellow” over a safety car phase is that it maintains the gaps between vehicles. Race control doesn’t intervene in the previous development of the race. Disadvantage: The speed is significantly lower. Drivers cannot keep their tyres at operating temperature as easy as during a safety car phase.