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.
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.
TeamChassisEngineTiresNoDriversRoundsPrimary Sponsor
Brahma Sports TeamReynard 96IFord Cosworth XD1 Raul BoeselAllBrahma
Marlboro Team PenskePenske PC-25Mercedes IC 108C2 Al Unser, Jr.AllMarlboro
Marlboro Team PenskePenske PC-25Mercedes IC 108C3 Paul Tracy1-12, 14-16Marlboro
Marlboro Team PenskePenske PC-25Mercedes IC 108C3 Jan Magnussen13Marlboro
Target/Chip Ganassi RacingReynard 96IHonda HRH4 Alex Zanardi AllTarget
Target/Chip Ganassi RacingReynard 96IHonda HRH12 Jimmy VasserAllTarget
Walker RacingReynard 96IFord Cosworth XD5 Robby GordonAllValvoline
Walker RacingReynard 96IFord Cosworth XB15 Scott Goodyear1-2, 11, 15-16Valvoline DuraBlend
Walker RacingReynard 96IFord Cosworth XB15 Mike Groff5Valvoline DuraBlend
Walker RacingReynard 96IFord Cosworth XB15 Fredrik Ekblom6Valvoline DuraBlend
Newman/Haas RacingLola T96/00Ford Cosworth6 Michael AndrettiAllTexaco-Havoline
Newman/Haas RacingLola T96/00Ford Cosworth11 Christian FittipaldiAllBudweiser
Team ScandiaLola T96/00Ford Cosworth XB7 Marco Greco1-2Int. Sports/Perry Ellis
Team ScandiaLola T96/00Ford Cosworth XB7 Eliseo Salazar7, 9, 12-13Cristal
Team ScandiaLola T96/00Ford Cosworth XB22 Carlos Guerrero1-3Herdez
Team ScandiaLola T96/00Ford Cosworth XB22 Michel Jourdain, Jr. 4, 7-9, 15-16Herdez
Hall RacingReynard 96IHonda HRH8 Gil de FerranAllPennzoil
Hogan Penske RacingPenske PC-25Mercedes IC 108C9 Emerson Fittipaldi1-12Mobil 1
Hogan Penske RacingPenske PC-25Mercedes IC 108C9 Jan Magnussen 14-16Mobil 1
Galles Racing InternationalLola T96/00Mercedes IC 108C10 Eddie Lawson 1-11Delco Electronics
Galles Racing InternationalLola T96/00Mercedes IC 108C10 Davy Jones12-16Delco Electronics
Bettenhausen MotorsportsReynard 96IMercedes IC 108C16 Stefan JohanssonAllAlumax
Bettenhausen MotorsportsPenske PC-23Mercedes IC 108C26 Gary Bettenhausen6Alumax
PacWest Racing GroupReynard 96IFord Cosworth XB17 Maurício GugelminAllHollywood Cigrettes
PacWest Racing GroupReynard 96IFord Cosworth XB21 Mark Blundell 1-2, 6-16VISA
PacWest Racing GroupReynard 96IFord Cosworth XB21 Teo Fabi3-5VISA
Team RahalReynard 96IMercedes IC 108C18 Bobby RahalAllMiller
Team RahalReynard 96IMercedes IC 108C28 Bryan HertaAllShell
Payton/Coyne RacingLola T96/00Ford Cosworth XB19 Hiro MatsushitaAllPanasonic
Payton/Coyne RacingLola T96/00Ford Cosworth XB34 Roberto MorenoAllData Control
Patrick RacingLola T96/00Ford Cosworth XD20 Scott PruettAllFirestone
Arciero-Wells RacingReynard 96IToyota RV8A25 Jeff Krosnoff 1-11Arciero-Wells Racing
MCI
Arciero-Wells RacingReynard 96IToyota RV8A25 Max Papis 13-14, 16Arciero-Wells Racing
MCI
Tasman Motorsports GroupLola T96/00Honda HRH31 André RibeiroAllLCI International
Tasman Motorsports GroupLola T96/00Honda HRH32 Adrián FernándezAllTecate
All American RacersEagle MK-VToyota RV8A36 Juan Manuel Fangio II AllCastrol
All American RacersEagle MK-VToyota RV8A98 P. J. Jones 6-16Castrol
Della Penna MotorsportsReynard 95IFord Cosworth XB44 Richie Hearn 4, 11, 16Ralphs
Brix Comptech RacingReynard 96IHonda HRH49 Parker JohnstoneAllMotorola
Project IndyReynard 95IFord Cosworth XB64 Dennis Vitolo4SmithKline Beecham
Player's/Forsythe RacingReynard 96IMercedes IC 108C99 Greg Moore AllPlayer's

Season Summary

Schedule

- Toronto was scheduled to run 170 miles, but was shortened due to the fatal accident of Jeff Krosnoff.
Oval/Speedway
Dedicated road course
Temporary street circuit

Race results

Final driver standings


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

Nation's Cup

  • Top result per race counts towards Nation's Cup.
PosCountryPts
1 United States282
2 Brazil206
3 Italy120
4 Canada111
5 Mexico71
6 Sweden43
7 United Kingdom41
8 Argentina5
9 Denmark5
10 Japan3
11 Chile2
PosCountryPts

[Chassis] Constructor's Cup

PosChassisPtsWins
1 Reynard 96I2768
2 Lola T96002608
3 Penske PC-25/PC-231390
4 Eagle MK V/9690
PosChassisPtsWins

[Engine] Manufacturer's Cup

PosEnginePtsWins
1 Honda27111
2 Ford XD/XB2345
3 Mercedes2180
4 Toyota90
PosEnginePtsWins

Drivers breakdown

OWIKI.org. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.