| Race details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race 4 of 16 in the 1996 IndyCar season | ||
| Date | April 14, 1996 | |
| Official name | Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach | |
| Location | Long Beach, California, United States | |
| Course | Street 1.590 mi / 2.559 km |
|
| Distance | 105 laps, 166.950 mi / 268.680 km | |
| Weather | ||
| Pole | ||
| Driver | Gil de Ferran | Hall Racing |
| Time | 52.208 | |
| Fastest Lap | ||
| Driver | Paul Tracy | Penske Racing |
| Time | 53.482 (on lap 99 of 105) | |
| Podium | ||
| First | Jimmy Vasser | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| Second | Parker Johnstone | Comptech Racing |
| Third | Al Unser, Jr. | Penske Racing |
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 |
At the end of lap 1, de Ferran was leading the race, as he led most laps of the race.
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 retired.
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.
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
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.