1996 PPG Indy Car World Series

The 1996 PPG Indy Car World Series season, the eighteenth in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 16 races, beginning in Homestead, Florida on March 3 and concluding in Monterey, California on September 8. Rookie of the Year was Alex Zanardi. This was the first season after the split with the Indy Racing League and the last year that CART operated as "IndyCar," with the trademark reverting to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Indianapolis 500 was replaced by the U.S. 500, held in Brooklyn, Michigan.

For the inaugural 1996 season of the Indy Racing League, see 1996 Indy Racing League.

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

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. 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, 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 Raul Boesel All Brahma
Marlboro Team Penske Penske PC-25 Mercedes IC 108C G 2 Al Unser Jr. All Marlboro
3 Paul Tracy 1–12, 14–16
Jan Magnussen 13
Target/Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard 96I Honda HRH F 4 Alex Zanardi  R  All Target
12 Jimmy Vasser All
Walker Racing Reynard 96I Ford Cosworth XD G 5 Robby Gordon All Valvoline
Reynard 96I Ford Cosworth XB G 15 Scott Goodyear 1–2, 11, 15–16 Valvoline DuraBlend
Mike Groff 5
Fredrik Ekblom 6
Newman/Haas Racing Lola T96/00 Ford Cosworth G 6 Michael Andretti All Texaco-Havoline
11 Christian Fittipaldi All Budweiser
Team Scandia Lola T96/00 Ford Cosworth XB G 7 Marco Greco 1–2 Int. Sports/Perry Ellis
Eliseo Salazar 7, 9, 12–13 Cristal
22 Carlos Guerrero 1–3 Herdez
Michel Jourdain Jr.  R  4, 7–9, 15–16
Hall Racing Reynard 96I Honda HRH G 8 Gil de Ferran All Pennzoil
Hogan Penske Racing Penske PC-25 Mercedes IC 108C G 9 Emerson Fittipaldi 1–12 Mobil 1
Jan Magnussen  R  14–16
Galles Racing International Lola T96/00 Mercedes IC 108C G 10 Eddie Lawson  R  1–11 Delco Electronics
Davy Jones 12–16
Bettenhausen Motorsports Reynard 96I Mercedes IC 108C G 16 Stefan Johansson All Alumax
Penske PC-23 Mercedes IC 108C G 26 Gary Bettenhausen 6 Alumax
PacWest Racing Group Reynard 96I Ford Cosworth XB G 17 Maurício Gugelmin All Hollywood Cigrettes
21 Mark Blundell  R  1–2, 6–16 VISA
Teo Fabi 3–5
Team Rahal Reynard 96I Mercedes IC 108C G 18 Bobby Rahal All Miller
28 Bryan Herta All Shell
Payton/Coyne Racing Lola T96/00 Ford Cosworth XB F 19 Hiro Matsushita All Panasonic
34 Roberto Moreno All Data Control
Patrick Racing Lola T96/00 Ford Cosworth XD F 20 Scott Pruett All Firestone
Arciero-Wells Racing Reynard 96I Toyota RV8A F 25 Jeff Krosnoff  R  1–11 Arciero-Wells Racing 6
MCI 8
Max Papis  R  13–14, 16
Tasman Motorsports Group Lola T96/00 Honda HRH F 31 André Ribeiro All LCI International
32 Adrián Fernández All Tecate
All American Racers Eagle MK-V Toyota RV8A G 36 Juan Manuel Fangio II  R  All Castrol
98 P. J. Jones  R  6–16
Della Penna Motorsports Reynard 95I Ford Cosworth XB G 44 Richie Hearn  R  4, 11, 16 Ralphs
Brix Comptech Racing Reynard 96I Honda HRH F 49 Parker Johnstone All Motorola
Project Indy Reynard 95I Ford Cosworth XB G 64 Dennis Vitolo 4 SmithKline Beecham
Player's/Forsythe Racing Reynard 96I Mercedes IC 108C F 99 Greg Moore  R  All Player's

Season Summary

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

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

Final driver standings
Pos Driver MIA RIO SUR LBH NAZ 500 MIL DET POR CLE TOR MIC MDO ROA VAN LAG Pts
1 Jimmy Vasser 1 8 1* 1 7 1 10 12 13 10 8 9 2 6 7 4 154
2 Michael Andretti 9 22 19 7 1* 23 1 1 11 19 22 22 3 1 1* 9 132
3 Alex Zanardi  RY  24 4* 21 24 13 17* 13 11 1* 2 2* 21 1* 3 26 1* 132
4 Al Unser Jr. 8 2 9 3 3 8 2* 22 4 4 13 4 13 10* 5 16 125
5 Christian Fittipaldi 6 5 5 21 9 12 6 2* 3 7 7 10 7 16 3 10 110
6 Gil de Ferran 2 10 11 5* 23 9 9 3 2 1* 18 19 17 25 4 25 104
7 Bobby Rahal 5 6 20 14 6 19 7 21 6 15 3 24 5 2 2 7 102
8 Bryan Herta 10 13 17 12 11 15 14 13 26 5 6 2 4 5 6 2 86
9 Greg Moore  R  7 18 3 22 2 13 5 20 25 3 4 17 9 23 25 6 84
10 Scott Pruett 4 3 2 11 8 26 12 10 23 8 10 13 21 7 20 3 82
11 André Ribeiro 16 1 8 27 12 4 8 24 7 20 21 1* 8 19 21 19 76
12 Adrián Fernández 11 14 23 6 10 DNS 11 4 12 6 1 20 6 13 8 11 71
13 Paul Tracy 23* 19 22 4 5 7 3 17 27 9 5 DNS 12 18 29 60
14 Maurício Gugelmin 26 25 4 15 15 2 15 16 16 21 12 3 26 21 24 5 53
15 Stefan Johansson 19 23 6 19 19 16 27 7 9 12 17 5 11 4 17 21 43
16 Mark Blundell  R  17 27 5 22 5 8 11 11 6 10 20 12 24 41
17 Parker Johnstone DNS 16 24 2 20 11 16 14 5 25 26 18 12 11 11 13 33
18 Robby Gordon 3 15 16 13 22 20 17 26 10 18 9 8 18 17 10 15 29
19 Emerson Fittipaldi 13 11 25 20 4 10 4 25 20 22 14 25 29
20 Eddie Lawson  R  15 21 7 9 17 6 20 6 15 24 15 26
21 Roberto Moreno 27 9 12 8 24 3 25 23 19 14 23 23 23 22 27 12 25
22 Raul Boesel 14 7 13 16 21 24 26 8 28 26 24 7 22 14 23 20 17
23 Juan Manuel Fangio II 21 17 15 25 25 22 19 18 14 13 28 14 20 8 19 28 5
24 Jan Magnussen  R  14 26 22 8 5
25 Scott Goodyear 12 DNS 19 9 18 5
26 P. J. Jones  R  Wth 24 9 24 23 20 16 25 18 13 27 4
27 Max Papis  R  24 9 22 4
28 Hiro Matsushita 18 24 10 28 26 14 28 19 21 17 27 15 19 15 15 23 3
29 Richie Hearn  R  10 25 17 3
30 Eliseo Salazar 21 18 11 15 2
31 Davy Jones 12 16 24 14 14 1
32 Marco Greco 25 12 1
33 Carlos Guerrero 20 20 14 0
34 Mike Groff 14 0
35 Jeff Krosnoff  R  22 26 18 26 18 18 18 15 17 16 161 0
36 Teo Fabi 18 16 Wth 0
37 Michel Jourdain Jr.  R  23 23 DNS 22 16 26 0
38 Dennis Vitolo 17 0
39 Gary Bettenhausen 21 0
40 Fredrik Ekblom  R  25 0
Pos Driver MIA RIO SUR LBH NAZ 500 MIL DET POR CLE TOR MIC MDO ROA VAN LAG 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.

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

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

Engine Manufacturer's Cup
Pos Engine Pts Wins
1 Honda 271 11
2 Ford XD/XB 234 5
3 Mercedes 218 0
4 Toyota 9 0
Pos Engine Pts Wins

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