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COMPARISON OF THE 1995 AND 1996 SPORTING REGULATIONS
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Following a manual compasison of the 1995 and 1996 F1 Sporting Regulations,
here are all the differences that I have been able to determin. Enjoy!


Competitors

Article 38

   The FIA must now notify applicants [requesting to join the
   Championship] no later then 22 days after the last race of the
   previous season.  They used to have to do this within 60 days of
   receiving the application. 

Article 39

   A new clause 'g' has been inserted: "[Applicants shall include] An
   undertaking that the car does not make use of any components, system,
   software or device which has been (or might reasonably be suspected
   to have been) designed, supplied or constructed by or with the help
   of anyone who has been involved on behalf of the FIA with checking
   Formula One electronic systems during the 24 months immediately
   preceding the application."


General Safety

Article 56

   If a driver abandons his car he must now leave it in neutral or with
   the clutch disengaged and with the steering wheel in place.
   Previously he only had to leave the steering wheel in place. 

   Theres a slight re-wording of this article to account for the new
   practice session regulations (see Article 97). 


Prequalifying, Free Practice, Qualifying

Article 93

   This article concerns where and when testing may take place.  The
   complete article has been re-worded and a new clause added.  The
   additional clause states that: "An entrant may test at any time on
   one of the circuits which is scheduled to host the British Grand
   Prix, the French Grand Prix, the Italian Grand Prix or the German
   Grand Prix...  provided that (1) such entrant has designated it as
   the circuit on which it wishes to test during that Championship...
   (2)...  no testing shall take place...  7 days before the start of
   the Event being held on such circuit."

Article 96

   The free practice sessions two days before the race have been moved
   from 11.00-12.00 to 9.30-10.15 and from 13.00-1400 to 10.30-11.15. 

   The free practice sessions on the day before the race have been moved
   from 9.00-9.45 to 9.30-10.15 and from 10.15-11.00 to 10.30-11.15. 

   Each driver is now allowed a maximum of 30 laps each day (was 23). 

Article 97

   The qualifying session two days before the event has been dropped.
   There is now only a single qualifying session from 13.00-1400 on the
   day before the race. 


Supply of Tyres

Article 103

   This is a new article inserted at the begining of this section.  It
   states: "No tyre may be used in the Championship unless the company
   supplying such tyre accepts and adheres to the following conditions:

       - one company present in the Championship: this company must
       equip 100% of the entered teams on ordinary commercial terms;

       - two companies present; each of them must, if called upon to do
       so, be prepared to equip up to 60% of the entered teams on
       ordinary commercial terms;

       - three or more companies present; each of them must.  if called
       upon to do so, be prepared to equip up to 40% of the entered
       teams on ordinary commercial terms."


The Grid

Article 111

   This article (drawing up of the grid) has been reworded to reflect
   that there is now only one qualifying session.  A new sentence has
   been added; "Any driver whose best qualifying lap exceeds 107% of the
   pole position time will not be allowed to take part in the race, save
   in exceptional circumstances accepted as such by the stewards of the
   Event."


Staring Procedure

Article 121

   The start of the race - there is no longer a designated time period
   following the showing of the red light after which the green light
   should be shown. 

Article 123

   If, after the start of the race, a car is immobilised on the grid,
   marshals are no longer allowed to push-start the car - it must be
   immediatly removed from the track. 

Article 126

   This article used to say "A time penalty will be imposed for a false
   start.".  This has been extended to say "...judged using an FIA
   supplied transponder which must be fitted to the car as specified."


Pit Assistance and Refuelling

Article 138

   This article has been reworded and two new sections added: 

       "(d) Lap trigger signals from the pits to the car.  Lap marker
       transmitters shall be battery powered and once operating must be
       free-standing (not attached to any other pit equipment by means
       of wires or optical fibres) and incapable of receiving external
       information.  Such lap triggers shall use a transmitter operating
       with a carrier frequency above 10GHz (radio or optical) and a
       beam half angle of no more than 36 degrees when measured at the
       3dB point, and shall not be used for the transmission of any data
       from pit to car other than the lap mark.  Lap mark data must be
       transmitted repeatedly and must be demonstrably consistent."

       "(f) Electromagnetic radiation between 2 and 2.7 GHz is forbidden
       save with the written consent of the FIA" 
        [Anyone know what's special about this frequency range?]


Stopping the race or practice

Article 143.

   There's a subtle change of wording in section (a) which now says:
   "(when the red flag is shown)...all cars abandoned on the track will
   be removed".  This used to say that abandoned cars will be
   "recovered"!


Post Practice Press conference and prizegiving.

Article 156

   This article has been reworded.  The main difference is that the
   Friday (Thursday in Monaco) press conference has been moved from
   3.30pm to 9.30am. 


Incidents

Article 164

   Concerning time penalties imposed by the stewards, they must now give
   written notification of the penalty.  Previously the "written" part
   was not specified. 

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Alan Mynard                       ---           VMark Software Ltd.     
eMail: mynard@vmark.co.uk       \/o o\/         Power House, Davy Avenue,
Tel: +44 1908 234990             \ | /          Knowlhill, Milton Keynes,
Fax: +44 1908 234992              |v|           MK5 8HJ, UK     
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