Code 60 (also known as a slow zone) is a safety procedure used in motorsport. An alternative to the safety car or full-course yellow, the procedure is designed to neutralise isolated sections of a circuit when an incident occurs rather than the whole track. [1]
The system was created by Huub Vermuelen and the Dutch National Racing Team in the late-2000s. [2] Instead of freezing races behind a safety car and closing all of the gaps between the competitors when circuit conditions are deemed unsafe, the Code 60 slows competitors to a set speed in section/s of a circuit where it is not safe to continue at racing speed, thereby allowing racing to continue in unaffected parts of the track. [3]
Having been initially trialled at Zandvoort, its first major implementation came at the Dubai 24 Hour in the early-2010s. Creventic, the operator of the Dubai 24 Hour, has since adopted the procedure for all events in its 24H Series competition. [4] The Code 60 practice was also adopted on the Nürburgring for its NLS and 24-hour events as the track is too long for safety cars to be effective. [5] In 2016, Motorsport UK adopted the procedure for domestic club racing. [6]
Code 60 procedure is considered advantageous because they maintain the race order without affecting gaps between the cars, whilst also keeping competitors and marshals safe; however, Code 60s can also be viewed as detracting from the entertainment value of races, given safety car periods bunch competitors together and encourage close racing on restarts. [7]
At the Nürburgring, a slow zone is implemented as follows: [8]