question: How do races decide the order of the cars at the start?
comment: The drivers do qualifying laps prior to the race. The better your qualifying lap, the better your start position.
passages: A second variation is used in the Australian GT Championship invitational Highlands 101 at Highlands Motorsports Park in New Zealand. It integrates both the Le Mans start and the Land Rush start. The drivers are behind the wheel already, but the co-drivers are equipped with flags approximately from their cars on the entrance to pit lane. At the signal, the co-drivers run the and hand over a flag that signals to their team the car is cleared to start. The driver then starts the car.
  
  Section::::Safety and precautions.
   A Le Mans start variation called a "land rush start" is used at short course off-road races at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway where the vehicles start lined up side-by-side on a wide part of the track. The "land rush start" is based on the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans start, and is used in historic races at Le Mans in some situations. However, unlike the true Le Mans start, engines are already running and the drivers are already sitting behind the wheel, wearing their safety belts, when the starting signal is displayed.
   Sixteen cars (but more often 32 in recent years although there was a 64-car field once), known as the "All Out 16", are then chosen by the producers to compete in the main portion of the competition. The cars are not formally bracketed, so the producers and technical officials may determine the race by car types (often by the classic GM-Ford, Ford-FCA, or GM-FCA rivalries, or brand nationality), driver types (sometimes past Pinks grudges, family members, or region), or any manner which they may choose (closest in elapsed time). However the competition is generally limited to what the technical advisors (most of them racers) decide is the "most competitive" field. In many cases they will attempt to come up with something interesting to further qualify the field, for example a slower class being allowed to earn a spot in the final 16, but in every case the idea is to find a full class of at least 16 cars in which each car is running within a tenth to 2 tenths of a second of each other.
   Grid position is typically determined by a qualifying session prior to the race, where race participants compete to ascend to the number 1 grid slot, the driver, pilot, or rider having recorded fastest qualification time awarded the advantage of the number 1 grid slot (i.e. pole-position) ahead of all other vehicles for the start of the race.
   In most cases, an OST event consists of the field of cars being split into three even groups. There are three qualifying heats to sort the grid for the Main Event. In each heat, two groups will take part, with the grids ordered to give all drivers a fair chance across the night. As an example, Heat One is Group 1 & 2, Heat Two is Group 1 & 3 & Heat Three is Group 2 & 3. Drivers receive grid points for the race results, with first place taking 24, second 23, third 22 and so on.
   Following widespread criticism of the grid penalty system in 2017 that regularly saw multiple drivers start races outside their qualifying positions, the FIA introduced a revised set of regulations for 2018. In the event that a driver changes a power unit component, they are still subject to a five- or ten-place grid penalty depending on the component being changed; however, should they then replace a second component, they will be moved to the back of the starting grid. If multiple drivers are moved to the back of the grid, their starting positions are determined by the order that components were changed based on the most recent change made by each driver.
   In some series (Indy Racing League, Champ Car, beginning in 2007, Formula One, and beginning in mid-2009, NASCAR) lapped cars between the pace car and the leader are allowed to move to the rear of the next lap when the signal is given two laps before a restart.
  
  In Formula One, all lapped cars between the leaders are permitted to advance one lap.
   The race line up is unique in that best drivers start at the rear of the field. The lowest, 'C' graded, drivers start each race at the front, then 'B', 'A' and 'star', while the 'superstars' start each race from the rear of the field. Championship races are usually gridded in qualifying order, with the highest qualifiers starting at the front of the grid.
   TA, SGT, and GT class cars all "grid" (with the 2 fastest qualifiers on the front row, and all other slower cars behind them according to qualifying times) and race together during the same "race session" using a staggered start with the two slower classes starting their respective races (in order of class) behind the TA class grid, being separated from each other as well. The fastest qualifiers in each of the four classes may choose to start on the left or right of the next fastest qualifier on the front row. TA2 class cars have their own separate race.
   In round 1, cars are sent out one at a time at the direction of a NASCAR official. Each car has one warm-up lap, one timed lap, and one cool down lap. NASCAR will release cars roughly half a lap apart to prevent any aerodynamic advantage from being gained from a competitor's car. The order in which cars go on track is the inverse of practice speeds. As with the road course format, the top 12 cars advance to the final round.
   This format varied at the New Zealand Grand Prix meeting, as three fifteen-minute sessions were held. The starting order for the opening race of the meeting was established using the fastest time for each driver in either of the first two sessions. The second race would use a partially reversed grid as normal, while the grid order for the final race – the New Zealand Grand Prix itself – was to be established using an average of each driver's fastest lap in each session.
  
  Section::::Championship standings.
   In the event that a race is suspended due to a red flag, it would be restarted with a standing start. Drivers would return to the starting grid in the positions they held at the time of the suspension and the race director would repeat the race start procedure. If circuit conditions are suitable for racing but the race director deems a standing start inappropriate, the race would resume with a rolling start where the safety car returns to pit lane and drivers proceed around the circuit in single file until they are shown the green flag.
   The pushing men swap running and pushing the car, like in a relay race, where the baton is the car. The competition rules allow only one person to push the car at a time. On the downhill part of the track ("la bassa"), where the car increase its speed, the pusher jump in the car behind the driver and then resumes pushing when the car speed reduces.
  
  Section::::Programme.
  
  Every year the program traditionally schedules the time trials on the first Sunday of September, which decide the starting grid.
   On road and street courses, cars are drawn randomly into two qualifying groups. After each group has one twenty-minute session, the top six cars from each group qualify for a second session. The cars that finished seventh or worse are lined up by their times, with the best of these times starting 13th. The twelve remaining cars run a 15-minute session, after which the top six cars move on to a final 10-minute session to determine positions one through six on the grid.
   Rolling start
  
  A rolling start is one of two modes of initiating or restarting an auto race; the other mode is the standing start. In a rolling start, the cars are ordered on the track and are led on a certain number of laps (parade or caution laps) at a pre-determined safe speed by the safety car. 
  
  Section::::Procedure.
   The starting order is the order in which the pilots will race in each flying session. The starting order for Training is defined by the results of the last year's Red Bull Air Race World Championship standings. The highest ranking pilot starts first. Starting order for new race pilots is determined by a draw. The starting order for Qualifying is defined by the results of the fourth training session. The order is reversed so that the slowest pilot from the fourth training session starts first. The starting order for all sessions on Race Day is determined by the results in Qualifying. The order is reversed so that the slowest pilot from Qualifying starts first.
   In a standing start, cars are completely still but with their engines running when a green signal is given to start the race. This is often preceded by a set number of lights. Standing starts are common in many motorsports, including most single-seater (Formula 1 and Formula 2 notably), Touring Cars (most notably British and World Touring Cars), drag racing, the Supercars Championship, kart racing, and many types of short-course off-road racing. The standing start often occurs following a parade lap.
   The initial start of the race may organize the cars in specific lines. For instance, NASCAR races start double file, and the Indy 500 starts triple file. Restarts, however, are often only single file, but lapped cars may form a second line on the inside. Some short track ovals have a rule, adopted by NASCAR in June 2009, and INDYCAR in 2011, where the restarts are all double file, with the leader's choice of inside or outside on the ensuing restart.
   Starting with some Season 2 races, and in most Season 3 races unless inclement weather or curfew force a condensed schedule (the 2009 Texas Motorplex race was condensed because of curfew; two 90-minute delays were caused by cleanup as a result of ethylene glycol coolant spilling on the track, a violation of drag strip rules prohibiting such coolants on the track), a group of 16 cars, dubbed in Season 3 as "Underdogs", will race another group of 16 cars, the "Defenders". Each pair of cars will race a single set of eliminations, using the signature "Pinks" arm-drop start. The winners advance to the Pinks All Out 16.
   Rolling starts began being used at the event in 2014, with the pole sitter being required to maintain a certain speed before accelerating within a designated zone on the pit straight, at which point the race would start and all other drivers could also accelerate. Following a multi-car crash at the start of the final race of the 2015 event, as well as comments from drivers, the procedure for the start of the race was changed prior to the first race. The red lights above the start line were used to indicate the start of the race, with control taken away from the pole sitter.
   A Le Mans-style start was used for many years in various types of motor racing. When the start flag dropped, drivers had to run across the track to their cars which were parked on the other side, climb in, start the car, and drive away to begin the race.
   Upon seeing the chequered flag and crossing the finish line, drivers are required to slow to a safe speed, and return to their garage, parc ferme, or the paddock, depending on the applicable regulations of the series.
  
  Section::::The chequered flag.:Design of the chequered flag.
   BULLET::::- Jump start: In a standing start, when a vehicle moves from its grid slot before the start of a race is signaled. In a rolling start, when a car passes before they cross the start-finish line or the restart line. When this is done, a penalty is usually imposed. In drag racing, a jump start is signalled by a red light in the offending driver's lane, and he loses unless a more serious foul (boundary line or failure to report to post-race inspection after a round win) occurs.
  
  Section::::K.
   BULLET::::- Delaware start: A style of restart where the race leader starts in the first row by himself and the other drivers start two-wide. Named after a start method for a short track in the state of Delaware in the United States. The leader can choose which lane he wants for the restart, which can be an advantage, with a clear advantage over second place. Compare that to Lane Choice.
  
  Delta Time (also Pit-Stop Delta)
   In this race, after the formation lap and three additional laps behind the safety car, the race director elected to begin the grand prix with a standing start. Accordingly, the race distance was set to 64 laps; all four laps behind the safety car at the beginning of the race were officially scored as formation laps.
  
  Section::::Race.:Race report.:Race start.
  