1996 Grand Prix of Long Beach

Last updated

Flag of the United States.svg 1996 Grand Prix of Long Beach
Race details
Race 4 of 16 in the 1996 IndyCar season
Long Beach 1992-1998.png
DateApril 14, 1996
Official name Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
Location Long Beach, California, United States
CourseStreet
1.586 [1] mi / 2.552 km
Distance105 laps
166.530 mi / 268.004 km
WeatherTemperatures up to 94 °F (34 °C); wind speeds up to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h) [2]
Pole position
Driver Flag of Brazil.svg Gil de Ferran  (Hall Racing)
Time52.208
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Paul Tracy  (Penske Racing)
Time53.482 (on lap 99 of 105)
Podium
First Flag of the United States.svg Jimmy Vasser  (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Second Flag of the United States.svg Parker Johnstone  (Comptech Racing)
Third Flag of the United States.svg Al Unser Jr.  (Penske Racing)
Chronology
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1995 1997

The 1996 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach was the 4th round of the 1996 IndyCar season. It happened on April 14, 1996, on the streets of Long Beach, California.

Contents

Race

Start

At the end of lap 1, de Ferran was leading the race, as he led most laps of the race.

Laps 4–39

At lap 4, Brazilian driver André Ribeiro crashed at turn 1. He retired. At lap 14, the top 6 was: Gil de Ferran, Alex Zanardi, Jimmy Vasser, Scott Pruett, Paul Tracy and Parker Johnstone. The 1st caution came out at lap 39, as Zanardi had hit Bobby Rahal at turn 1. Zanardi retired. At the same lap, Robby Gordon had a fire in his pit area. Despite this, Robby did not retire.

Laps 41–65

The top 6 at lap 41 was: de Ferran, Vasser, Tracy, Johnstone, Pruett and Greg Moore. At lap 49, the 2nd caution came out, as Moore collided with Christian Fittipaldi at the last turn before the hairpin. Both retired. Emerson Fittipaldi had hit some debris from that collision, thus, damaging the suspension of his car. He also retired. Al Unser Jr. was now in sixth place. Then, at lap 54, Raul Boesel committed a mistake and missed the turn 1. He would do this again laps later. At lap 57, Robby Gordon had hit Bryan Herta at the hairpin. They did not retired. At lap 65, Teo Fabi, who was replacing Mark Blundell, after he suffered a broken foot at the Rio 400, suffered a puncture. The cause of the puncture, probably, was when he collided with Michael Andretti at the opening laps. Andretti had hit Fabi from behind and damaged his front wing.

Laps 70–95

The 3rd caution came out, as Robby Gordon had hit the wall. The top 10 was: de Ferran, Tracy, Vasser, Johnstone, Unser Jr., Adrian Fernandez, Andretti, Roberto Moreno, Eddie Lawson and Richie Hearn. At the same lap, Paul Tracy was black flagged after overtaking Vasser during caution. He did a stop-and-go penalty one lap later. At lap 95, Dennis Vitolo retired due to mechanical problems

Closing stages

With 4 laps to go, de Ferran suffered mechanical problems and lost the lead to Jimmy Vasser. Then, 1 lap later, Bobby Rahal and Bryan Herta collided at the hairpin. Jimmy Vasser won the race.

Final results

PosNoDriverTeamLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
112 Flag of the United States.svg Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing 1051:44:02.363320
249 Flag of the United States.svg Parker Johnstone Comptech Racing 105+ 3.447616
32 Flag of the United States.svg Al Unser Jr. Penske Racing 105+ 4.409914
43 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Paul Tracy Penske Racing 105+ 5.000412
58 Flag of Brazil.svg Gil de Ferran Jim Hall Racing 105+ 32.073112
632 Flag of Mexico.svg Adrián Fernández Tasman Motorsports 105+ 36.322138
76 Flag of the United States.svg Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing 104+ 1 Lap126
834 Flag of Brazil.svg Roberto Moreno Payton/Coyne Racing 104+ 1 Lap185
910 Flag of the United States.svg Eddie Lawson Galles Racing International 104+ 1 Lap244
1044 Flag of the United States.svg Richie Hearn Della Penna Motorsports 103+ 2 Laps223
1120 Flag of the United States.svg Scott Pruett Patrick Racing 103+ 2 Laps52
1228 Flag of the United States.svg Bryan Herta Team Rahal 100+ 5 Laps171
135 Flag of the United States.svg Robby Gordon Walker Racing 98+ 7 Laps7
1418 Flag of the United States.svg Bobby Rahal Team Rahal 98+ 7 Laps21
1517 Flag of Brazil.svg Maurício Gugelmin PacWest Racing 97+ 8 Laps11
161 Flag of Brazil.svg Raul Boesel Team Green 90+ 15 Laps16
1764 Flag of the United States.svg Dennis Vitolo Project Indy 87Electrical28
1821 Flag of Italy.svg Teo Fabi PacWest Racing 86Clutch19
1916 Flag of Sweden.svg Stefan Johansson Bettenhausen Racing 50Engine20
209 Flag of Brazil.svg Emerson Fittipaldi Hogan-Penske Racing 48Accident14
2111 Flag of Brazil.svg Christian Fittipaldi Newman/Haas Racing 47Accident10
2299 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Greg Moore Team Forsythe 47Accident8
2322 Flag of Mexico.svg Michel Jourdain Jr. Team Scandia 46Radiator27
244 Flag of Italy.svg Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing 39Accident2
2536 Flag of Argentina.svg Juan Fangio II All American Racers 29Oil leak26
2625 Flag of the United States.svg Jeff Krosnoff Arciero/Wells Racing 23Engine23
2731 Flag of Brazil.svg André Ribeiro Tasman Motorsports 4Accident15
2819 Flag of Japan.svg Hiro Matsushita Payton/Coyne Racing 1Electrical25
Sources: [3] [4]

References

  1. "1996 Long Beach Grand Prix" . Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  2. "1996 Grand Prix of Long Beach weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  3. "Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach". Ultimate Racing History. Archived from the original on March 24, 2012. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
  4. "1996 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach". Champ Car Stats. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
Preceded by Grand Prix of Long Beach Succeeded by