IndyCar Officiating explains roots of Long Beach P2P failure

IndyCar Officiating’s investigation into the root cause of the Push to Pass (P2P) system error at Long Beach has been completed.

The findings from IndyCar Officiating in the matter that errantly left P2P available for use during the lap 61 restart – at a time when P2P usage was not allowed – revealed an abundance of messages “sent from the IndyCar software to the receivers on the cars on track” overwhelmed the system and triggered the problem that “led to the Push to Pass system shutdown, resulting in the cars never receiving the signal to disable Push to Pass. Instead, the system remained available during the full-course yellow and subsequent restart.”

A fix to prevent the same problem from happening was tested with success during the recent Indy Open Test and will be implemented during this weekend’s Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis road course.

IndyCar Officiating says the preventative measure will include a new software “lock” applied to the “sequence of events that writes the message to the server to send to the cars. The new code provides for only one-at-a-time messaging and avoids simultaneous signals. The ‘lock’ is a common industry practice and does not pose any risk to the functionality of the code.”

IndyCar Officiating also removed the restriction for using P2P on starts and restarts – the very problem caused by the system during the lone restart at Long Beach.

“The Independent Officiating Board would like to thank IndyCar software and powertrain engineers who have helped us work through this review,” said IndyCar Officiating Board chairman Raj Nair. “We believe the protective measures that have been established will ensure there are no more system issues moving forward. Additionally, the board fully endorses the rule change involving the burden of responsibility and also supports the Push to Pass rule update made by IndyCar to allow overtake on race restarts. This has been a comprehensive and thorough process, which has led to a favorable result.”

RELATED: IndyCar opens up Push to Pass usage

The investigation by IndyCar Officiating also brought forth details on the opportunistic use of P2P during the lap 61 restart. As previously reported, 12 of the 25 drivers were found to be pressing the P2P button on the restart in the hope that an error within the system or by a race official would activate the use of the extra 60hp delivered by their turbochargers.

Those 12 duly received the added turbo boost, but went unpunished by IndyCar Officiating. In the final review of the matter, the 12 were identified along with the number of button presses and total duration of P2P power deployment during the restart:

Driver | Team | Uses | Total Time

Felix Rosenqvist, No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda, three, 18.5s

Alex Palou, No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, three, 15.1s

Kyffin Simpson, No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, two, 12.1s

Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevy, three, 8.0s

Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevy, two, 7.0s

Marcus Armstrong, No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda, one, 6.3s

Rinus VeeKay, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevy, two, 6.0s

David Malukas, No. 12 Team Penske Chevy, one, 6.0s

Romain Grosjean, No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda, two, 4.5s

Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Team Penske Chevy, one, 3.0s

Louis Foster, No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, two, 2.5s

Graham Rahal, No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, one, 0.0s