1996 CART IndyCar season
PPG Indy Car World Series
Season
Races16
Start dateMarch 3
End dateSeptember 8
Awards
Drivers' championUnited States Jimmy Vasser
Constructors' CupUnited Kingdom Reynard
Manufacturers' CupJapan Honda
Nations' CupUnited States United States
Rookie of the YearItaly Alex Zanardi

The 1996 PPG Indy Car World Series season was the eighteenth in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) era of American open-wheel car racing. It consisted of 16 races, beginning in Homestead, Florida on March 3 and concluding in Monterey, California on September 8. This was the first season after the split with the Indy Racing League and the last year that CART operated under the name "IndyCar", with the trademark reverting to Indianapolis Motor Speedway at season's end. The Indianapolis 500 was replaced by the U.S. 500, held at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion was Jimmy Vasser, whose Honda/Reynard won four of the first six races, including the inaugural US 500. Rookie of the Year was Alex Zanardi. The competition soon starting catching up to Vasser, who had to fend off two late challenges from veterans: Al Unser Jr.'s consistent performance saw him come close to tying Vasser late in the season, but his hopes evaporated after a last-lap crash at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and an engine failure while leading on the final turn at Road America. Michael Andretti's resulting victory there and in Vancouver put him in contention at the final race, but a disappointing result at Laguna Seca gave Vasser the championship. Rookie driver Jeff Krosnoff and a course worker died in an accident at the Toronto round, and one week later, Emerson Fittipaldi was in a serious accident at the start of the Marlboro 500 and had to retire.

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1996 Indy Car World Series season.

Team Chassis Engine Tires No Drivers Rounds Primary Sponsor
Brahma Sports Team Reynard 96I Ford Cosworth XD G 1 Brazil Raul Boesel All Brahma
Marlboro Team Penske Penske PC-25 Mercedes IC 108C G 2 United States Al Unser Jr. All Marlboro
3 Canada Paul Tracy 1–12, 14–16
Denmark Jan Magnussen 13
Target/Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard 96I Honda HRH F 4 Italy Alex Zanardi  R  All Target
12 United States Jimmy Vasser All
Walker Racing Reynard 96I Ford Cosworth XD G 5 United States Robby Gordon All Valvoline
Reynard 96I Ford Cosworth XB G 15 Canada Scott Goodyear 1–2, 11, 15–16 Valvoline DuraBlend
United States Mike Groff 5
Sweden Fredrik Ekblom 6
Newman/Haas Racing Lola T96/00 Ford Cosworth XD G 6 United States Michael Andretti All Texaco-Havoline
11 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi All Budweiser
Team Scandia Lola T96/00 Ford Cosworth XB G 7 Brazil Marco Greco 1–2 Int. Sports/Perry Ellis
Chile Eliseo Salazar 7, 9, 12–13 Cristal
22 Mexico Carlos Guerrero 1–3 Herdez
Mexico Michel Jourdain Jr.  R  4, 7–9, 15–16
Hall Racing Reynard 96I Honda HRH G 8 Brazil Gil de Ferran All Pennzoil
Hogan Penske Racing Penske PC-25 Mercedes IC 108C G 9 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi 1–12 Mobil 1
Denmark Jan Magnussen  R  14–16
Galles Racing International Lola T96/00 Mercedes IC 108C G 10 United States Eddie Lawson  R  1–11 Delco Electronics
United States Davy Jones 12–16
Bettenhausen Motorsports Reynard 96I Mercedes IC 108C G 16 Sweden Stefan Johansson All Alumax
Penske PC-23 Mercedes IC 108C G 26 United States Gary Bettenhausen 6 Alumax
PacWest Racing Group Reynard 96I Ford Cosworth XB G 17 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin All Hollywood Cigarettes
21 United Kingdom Mark Blundell  R  1–2, 6–16 Visa
Italy Teo Fabi 4–5
Team Rahal Reynard 96I Mercedes IC 108C G 18 United States Bobby Rahal All Miller
28 United States Bryan Herta All Shell
Payton/Coyne Racing Lola T96/00 Ford Cosworth XB F 19 Japan Hiro Matsushita All Panasonic
34 Brazil Roberto Moreno All Data Control
Patrick Racing Lola T96/00 Ford Cosworth XD F 20 United States Scott Pruett All Firestone
Arciero-Wells Racing Reynard 96I Toyota RV8A F 25 United States Jeff Krosnoff  R  1–11 Arciero-Wells Racing 6
MCI 8
Italy Max Papis  R  13–14, 16
Tasman Motorsports Group Lola T96/00 Honda HRH F 31 Brazil André Ribeiro All LCI International
32 Mexico Adrián Fernández All Tecate
All American Racers Eagle MK-V Toyota RV8A G 36 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio II  R  All Castrol
98 United States P. J. Jones  R  6–16
Della Penna Motorsports Reynard 95I Ford Cosworth XB G 44 United States Richie Hearn  R  4, 11, 16 Ralphs
Brix Comptech Racing Reynard 96I Honda HRH F 49 United States Parker Johnstone All Motorola
Project Indy Reynard 95I Ford Cosworth XB G 64 United States Dennis Vitolo 4 SmithKline Beecham
Player's/Forsythe Racing Reynard 96I Mercedes IC 108C F 99 Canada Greg Moore  R  All Player's

Season Summary

Schedule

Rnd Date Race Name Circuit Location
1 March 3 United States Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota  O  Homestead Motorsports Complex Homestead, Florida
2 March 17 Brazil IndyCar Rio 400  O  Autódromo de Jacarepaguá Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
3 March 31 Australia Indy Carnival  R  Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise, Australia
4 April 14 United States Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach  R  Streets of Long Beach Long Beach, California
5 April 28 United States Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix  O  Nazareth Speedway Nazareth, Pennsylvania
6 May 26 United States U.S. 500  O  Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan
7 June 2 United States Miller 200  O  Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin
8 June 9 United States ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix  R  The Raceway on Belle Isle Park Detroit, Michigan
9 June 23 United States Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200  R  Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon
10 June 30 United States Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland  R  Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio
11 July 14 Canada Molson Indy Toronto  R  Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario
12 July 28 United States Marlboro 500  O  Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan
13 August 11 United States Miller 200  R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio
14 August 18 United States The Chicago Tribune Presents the Texaco/Havoline 200  R  Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
15 September 1 Canada Molson Indy Vancouver  R  Concord Pacific Place Vancouver, British Columbia
16 September 8 United States Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring the Bank of America 300  R  Laguna Seca Raceway Monterey, California

– Toronto was scheduled to run 170 miles, but was shortened due to the fatal accident of Jeff Krosnoff.
 O  Oval/Speedway
 R  Road/Street course

Race results

Rnd Race Pole position Fastest lap Race Winner Race time Report
Driver Team Chassis Engine
1 United States Homestead Canada Paul Tracy Canada Greg Moore United States Jimmy Vasser Target Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 1:51:23 Report
2 Brazil Rio Italy Alex Zanardi Brazil Gil de Ferran Brazil André Ribeiro Tasman Motorsports Lola Honda 2:06:08 Report
3 Australia Surfers Paradise United States Jimmy Vasser United States Jimmy Vasser United States Jimmy Vasser Target Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 2:00:46 Report
4 United States Long Beach Brazil Gil de Ferran Canada Paul Tracy United States Jimmy Vasser Target Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 1:44:02 Report
5 United States Nazareth Canada Paul Tracy Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi United States Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Lola Ford 1:25:08 Report
6 United States Michigan 1 United States Jimmy Vasser Italy Alex Zanardi United States Jimmy Vasser Target Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 3:11:48 Report
7 United States Milwaukee Canada Paul Tracy United States Michael Andretti United States Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Lola Ford 1:33:32 Report
8 United States Belle Isle United States Scott Pruett Brazil Christian Fittipaldi United States Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Lola Ford 2:00:44 Report
9 United States Portland Italy Alex Zanardi Italy Alex Zanardi Italy Alex Zanardi Target Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 1:50:25 Report
10 United States Cleveland United States Jimmy Vasser United States Jimmy Vasser Brazil Gil de Ferran Jim Hall Racing Reynard Honda 1:35:39 Report
11 Canada Toronto Brazil André Ribeiro Italy Alex Zanardi Mexico Adrián Fernández Tasman Motorsports Lola Honda 1:41:59 Report
12 United States Michigan 2 United States Jimmy Vasser Mexico Adrián Fernández Brazil André Ribeiro Tasman Motorsports Lola Honda 3:16:33 Report
13 United States Mid-Ohio Italy Alex Zanardi Italy Alex Zanardi Italy Alex Zanardi Target Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 1:46:49 Report
14 United States Road America Italy Alex Zanardi Canada Paul Tracy United States Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Lola Ford 1:56:33 Report
15 Canada Vancouver Italy Alex Zanardi Italy Alex Zanardi United States Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Lola Ford 1:48:16 Report
16 United States Laguna Seca Italy Alex Zanardi Italy Alex Zanardi Italy Alex Zanardi Target Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 1:48:32 Report

Final driver standings

Pos Driver MIA United States RIO Brazil SUR Australia LBH United States NAZ United States 500 United States MIL United States DET United States POR United States CLE United States TOR Canada MIC United States MDO United States ROA United States VAN Canada LAG United States Pts
1 United States Jimmy Vasser 1 8 1* 1 7 1 10 12 13 10 8 9 2 6 7 4 154
2 United States Michael Andretti 9 22 19 7 1* 23 1 1 11 19 22 22 3 1 1* 9 132
3 Italy Alex Zanardi  RY  24 4* 21 24 13 17* 13 11 1* 2 2* 21 1* 3 26 1* 132
4 United States Al Unser Jr. 8 2 9 3 3 8 2* 22 4 4 13 4 13 10* 5 16 125
5 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi 6 5 5 21 9 12 6 2* 3 7 7 10 7 16 3 10 110
6 Brazil Gil de Ferran 2 10 11 5* 23 9 9 3 2 1* 18 19 17 25 4 25 104
7 United States Bobby Rahal 5 6 20 14 6 19 7 21 6 15 3 24 5 2 2 7 102
8 United States Bryan Herta 10 13 17 12 11 15 14 13 26 5 6 2 4 5 6 2 86
9 Canada Greg Moore  R  7 18 3 22 2 13 5 20 25 3 4 17 9 23 25 6 84
10 United States Scott Pruett 4 3 2 11 8 26 12 10 23 8 10 13 21 7 20 3 82
11 Brazil André Ribeiro 16 1 8 27 12 4 8 24 7 20 21 1* 8 19 21 19 76
12 Mexico Adrián Fernández 11 14 23 6 10 DNS 11 4 12 6 1 20 6 13 8 11 71
13 Canada Paul Tracy 23* 19 22 4 5 7 3 17 27 9 5 Wth 12 18 29 60
14 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin 26 25 4 15 15 2 15 16 16 21 12 3 26 21 24 5 53
15 Sweden Stefan Johansson 19 23 6 19 19 16 27 7 9 12 17 5 11 4 17 21 43
16 United Kingdom Mark Blundell  R  17 27 5 22 5 8 11 11 6 10 20 12 24 41
17 United States Parker Johnstone Wth 16 24 2 20 11 16 14 5 25 26 18 12 11 11 13 33
18 United States Robby Gordon 3 15 16 13 22 20 17 26 10 18 9 8 18 17 10 15 29
19 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi 13 11 25 20 4 10 4 25 20 22 14 25 29
20 United States Eddie Lawson  R  15 21 7 9 17 6 20 6 15 24 15 26
21 Brazil Roberto Moreno 27 9 12 8 24 3 25 23 19 14 23 23 23 22 27 12 25
22 Brazil Raul Boesel 14 7 13 16 21 24 26 8 28 26 24 7 22 14 23 20 17
23 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio II 21 17 15 25 25 22 19 18 14 13 28 14 20 8 19 28 5
24 Denmark Jan Magnussen  R  14 26 22 8 5
25 Canada Scott Goodyear 12 Wth 19 9 18 5
26 United States P. J. Jones  R  Wth 24 9 24 23 20 16 25 18 13 27 4
27 Italy Max Papis  R  24 9 22 4
28 Japan Hiro Matsushita 18 24 10 28 26 14 28 19 21 17 27 15 19 15 15 23 3
29 United States Richie Hearn  R  10 25 17 3
30 Chile Eliseo Salazar 21 18 11 15 2
31 United States Davy Jones 12 16 24 14 14 1
32 Brazil Marco Greco 25 12 1
33 Mexico Carlos Guerrero 20 20 14 0
34 United States Mike Groff 14 0
35 United States Jeff Krosnoff  R  22 26 18 26 18 18 18 15 17 16 161 0
36 Italy Teo Fabi 18 16 Wth 0
37 Mexico Michel Jourdain Jr.  R  23 23 DNS 22 16 26 0
38 United States Dennis Vitolo 17 0
39 United States Gary Bettenhausen 21 0
40 Sweden Fredrik Ekblom  R  25 0
Pos Driver MIA United States RIO Brazil SUR Australia LBH United States NAZ United States 500 United States MIL United States DET United States POR United States CLE United States TOR Canada MIC United States MDO United States ROA United States VAN Canada LAG United States Pts
Color Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green 4th–6th place
Light Blue 7th–12th place
Dark Blue Finished
(Outside Top 12)
Purple Did not finish
Red Did not qualify
(DNQ)
Brown Withdrawn
(Wth)
Black Disqualified
(DSQ)
White Did not start
(DNS)
Blank Did not
participate
(DNP)
Not competing
In-line notation
Bold Pole position
Italics Ran fastest race lap
* Led most race laps
 RY  Rookie of the Year
 R  Rookie

Note: 1 Jeff Krosnoff died in an accident at the Molson Indy Toronto.

Nations' Cup

  • Top result per race counts towards Nations' Cup.
Pos Country Pts
1 United States United States 282
2 Brazil Brazil 206
3 Italy Italy 120
4 Canada Canada 111
5 Mexico Mexico 71
6 Sweden Sweden 43
7 United Kingdom United Kingdom 41
8 Argentina Argentina 5
9 Denmark Denmark 5
10 Japan Japan 3
11 Chile Chile 2
Pos Country Pts

Chassis Constructors' Cup

Pos Chassis Pts Wins
1 United Kingdom Reynard 96I 276 8
2 United Kingdom Lola T9600 260 8
3 United States Penske PC-25/PC-23 139 0
4 United States Eagle MK V/96 9 0
Pos Chassis Pts Wins

Engine Manufacturers' Cup

Pos Engine Pts Wins
1 Japan Honda 271 11
2 United States Ford XD/XB 234 5
3 Germany Mercedes 218 0
4 Japan Toyota 9 0
Pos Engine Pts Wins

Drivers breakdown

Pos ↓ Car Driver ↓ Team ↓ Starts ↓ Wins ↓ Podiums ↓ Top 5s ↓ Top 10s ↓ Poles ↓ Points ↓
1 12 United States Vasser United States Target Ganassi Racing 16 4 5 6 14 4 154
2 6 United States Andretti United States Newman Haas Racing 16 5 6 6 9 131
3 4 Italy Zanardi United States Target Ganassi Racing 16 3 6 7 7 6 130
4 2 United States Unser Jr. United States Marlboro Team Penske 16 0 4 8 12 124
5 11 Brazil C. Fittipaldi United States Newman Haas Racing 16 0 3 5 13 110
6 8 Brazil de Ferran United States Jim Hall Racing 16 1 4 6 9 1 104
7 18 United States Rahal United States Team Rahal 16 0 3 5 10 102
8 28 United States Herta United States Team Rahal 16 0 2 5 8 86
9 99 Canada Moore Canada Forsythe Racing 16 0 3 5 8 84
10 20 United States Pruett United States Patrick Racing 16 0 3 4 9 1 82
11 31 Brazil Ribeiro United States Tasman Motorsports 16 2 2 3 7 1 76
12 32 Mexico Fernandez United States Tasman Motorsports 15 1 1 2 7 71
13 3 Canada Tracy United States Marlboro Team Penske 14 0 1 4 6 3 60
14 17 Brazil Gugelmin United States PacWest Racing 16 0 2 4 4 53
15 16 Sweden Johansson United States Bettenhausen Racing 16 0 0 2 5 43
16 21 United Kingdom Blundell United States PacWest Racing 13 0 0 2 5 41
17 49 United States Johnstone United States Comptech Racing 15 0 1 2 2 33
18 5 United States Gordon United States Walker Racing 16 0 1 1 5 29
18 9 Brazil E. Fittipaldi United States Hogan Penske 12 0 0 2 3 29
20 10 United States Lawson United States Galles Racing 11 0 0 0 4 26
21 34 Brazil Moreno United States Payton/Coyne Racing 15 0 1 1 3 25
22 1 Brazil Boesel United States Brahma Sports Team 16 0 0 0 3 17
23 36 Argentina Fangio United States All American Racing 16 0 0 0 1 5
23 9 Denmark Magnussen United States Hogan Penske 4 0 0 0 1 5
23 15 Canada Goodyear United States Walker Racing 4 0 0 0 1 5
26 98 United States P. J. Jones United States All American Racing 10 0 0 0 1 4
26 25 Italy Papis United States Arciero-Wells Racing 3 0 0 0 1 4
28 19 Japan Matsushita United States Payton/Coyne Racing 16 0 0 0 1 3
28 44 United States Hearn United States Della Penna Motorsports 3 0 0 0 1 3
30 7 Chile Salazar United States Dick Simon Racing 4 0 0 0 0 2
31 10 United States D. Jones United States Galles Racing 5 0 0 0 0 1
31 7 Brazil Greco United States Dick Simon Racing 2 0 0 0 0 1
33 25 United States Krosnoff United States Arciero-Wells Racing 11 0 0 0 0 0
33 22 Mexico Jourdain Jr. United States Della Penna Motorsports 5 0 0 0 0 0
33 22 Mexico Guerrero United States Dick Simon Racing 3 0 0 0 0 0
33 21 Italy Fabi United States PacWest Racing 2 0 0 0 0 0
33 15 Sweden Ekblom United States Walker Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0
33 15 United States Groff United States Walker Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0
33 26 United States Bettenhausen United States Bettenhausen Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0
33 64 United States Vitolo United States Project Indy 1 0 0 0 0 0

References

  • Åberg, Andreas. "PPG Indy Car World Series 1996". Driver Database. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  • "1996 PPG Indy Car World Series". Champ Car Stats. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  • "Standings after Laguna Seca". Champ Car World Series. Archived from the original on 22 October 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-19.

See also

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