Eleven teams including Briscoe, Hunter-Reay and points leader Will Power received $15,000 fines for violating technical rules regarding the braking systems on the new Dallara DW12.
The new rules for the spec brake system were discussed in this post from SafeBaking.com. The pads have to be the ones supplied by Brembo, No exceptions.
Penske Racing president Tim Cindric (Brisco, Reay and Power) indicated in a series of tweets that the brake rule was changed after last season’s finale at Las Vegas. He admitted the brake pads on Power’s car were wrong, but said on Twitter it was “out of habit.”
There is a bigger story here. Many series that race oval speedways will restrain the pad in the caliper with wire or plastic ties for qualifying. This requires a a pad the is thinner and maybe modified to stay retracted. NASCAR has been doing this for years. It reduces friction is the brakes are not applied during the qualifying run.
INDY CAR and NASCAR rules makes feel that it can be a safety issue. The driver may have to stroke the pedal a few times to get the brakes to work.
It is still unclear what the teams did to the pads or calipers. More to follow.