It seems that there are safety issues with the tyres this weekend. 3 mandatory pitstops and a maximum of 20 laps per set of tyres would be the solution if the damages are also found after the sprint race.
I think you have to mark yourself for PVP to actually be able to attack or be attacked. At least that is what I understood when the tutorial messages popped up while uncovering the map there. Never got attacked while riding through there.