If you have not even passed the corner worker station with the standing double yellow, you are still under the control of that corner workers station and, by definition, cannot pass. Once you clear the corner worker station, you are under the control of the next station, which is green…so you can hit the loud pedal.
This seems like an easy question and is merely one regarding race craft…am I missing something?
Now Ranger brings up a good point and the Race Director should be able to make that call. However, what if there is an incident or stalled car just past the corner worker station that you don’t see and it is not severe enough to maintain a full course yellow? You would have some explaining to do if you passed before the yellow flag station that you are not even past. However, I don’t agree with trying to over ride a corner worker error. If the corner worker has a flag up, you MUST presume that the corner worker is correct as everyone else has to abide by it, too.
The way I see it, there is no legitimate reason for passing BEFORE the yellow. Once you pass it, that is where you have to be heads up. If you did take the pass, and there was perhaps a stalled car, you also have to be heads up enough to point the driver by and give the pass back so if your argument does not work, you can show you were aware of the problem and did what you thought was right to fix it. If the RD still dings you after you gave the position back, that is reason for an appeal.
