The 1996 PPG/Firestone Indy Lights Championship Powered By Buick consisted of 12 races. Canadian David Empringham captured three wins on his way to the championship.
This was the last season where all teams used the Lola T93/20-Buick spec car, which was replaced in the 1997 season by the Lola T97/20-Buick spec car.
The scoring system was 20-16-14-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 points awarded to the first 12 (twelve) finishers, with 1 (one) extra point given to the driver who took pole-position, and another extra point given to the driver who led most laps in the race.
Team and driver chart The following drivers and teams competed in the series: TeamDriversRound(s)Brian Stewart Racing2 Mattias Andersson1–2 Nick Firestone4–9 Felipe Giaffone11–123 Gualter SallesAll61 Jack MillerAllDorricott Racing31 Shigeaki HattoriAll32 Jeff WardAllFRE Racing17 José Cordova1–2 Peter Faucetta Jr.3 Jaki Scheckter5–7, 12 Robbie Buhl9Forsythe Racing33 David EmpringhamAll66 Claude BourbonnaisAll99 Bertrand Godin9–12Genoa Racing24 David DeSilvaAllIndy Regency Racing28 Hideki NodaAllLeading Edge Motorsports4 Felipe Giaffone1–8 José Giaffone10–12 Sohrab Amirsardari95623 Mark HotchkisAll77 Rodolfo Lavín1–2, 4–12PacWest Lights10 Bob Reid9 Robby Unser1–2123–7, 9–12 Casey Mears8Performance Racing9 Andy Boss1–2 David LaCroix11RaceCars88 Diego Gumzán1 Paulo Carcasci2 Freddy van Beuren8–1289 Danny Candía1 Roque Aranda2–4 Maurício Slaviero7–9Summit Motorsports20 Doug Boyer1–2, 4–6Tasman Motorsports37 Tony KanaanAll38 José Luís Di PalmaAll39 Hélio CastronevesAllTeam Green26 Chris SimmonsAll27 Greg RayAllTeam Leisy / McCormack34 Harry Puterbaugh Jr.1, 3 Shan Groff2, 1235 Niclas Jönsson2Team Medlin12 Alex Padilla1–3, 5–12
Schedule Rd.DateTrackLocation1March 3 Homestead-Miami SpeedwayHomestead, Florida2April 14 Long Beach Street CircuitLong Beach, California3April 28 Nazareth SpeedwayNazareth, Pennsylvania4May 25 Michigan International SpeedwayBrooklyn, Michigan5June 2 Milwaukee MileWest Allis, Wisconsin6June 9 The Raceway at Belle Isle ParkDetroit, Michigan7June 23 Portland International RacewayPortland, Oregon8June 30 Cleveland Burke Lakefront AirportCleveland, Ohio9July 14 Exhibition PlaceToronto, Ontario10August 4 Circuit Trois-RivièresTrois-Rivières, Quebec11September 1 Streets of VancouverVancouver, British Columbia12September 8 Laguna Seca RacewayMonterey, California
Race results RoundCircuitPole positionMost laps ledRace WinnerDriverTeam1 Homestead-Miami Speedway David Empringham David Empringham David EmpringhamForsythe Racing2 Long Beach Street Circuit Gualter Salles David Empringham David EmpringhamForsythe Racing3 Nazareth Speedway Claude Bourbonnais David DeSilva David DeSilvaGenoa Racing4 Michigan International Speedway David Empringham David Empringham David EmpringhamForsythe Racing5 Milwaukee Mile Mark Hotchkis Mark Hotchkis Mark HotchkisLeading Edge Motorsports6 The Raceway at Belle Isle Park David Empringham Tony Kanaan Tony KanaanTasman Motorsports7 Portland International Raceway Tony Kanaan Gualter Salles Gualter SallesBrian Stewart Racing8 Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport Mark Hotchkis Gualter Salles Gualter SallesBrian Stewart Racing9 Exhibition Place Jeff Ward Gualter Salles Gualter SallesBrian Stewart Racing10 Circuit Trois-Rivières Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves Hélio CastronevesTasman Motorsports11 Streets of Vancouver Jeff Ward Tony Kanaan Claude BourbonnaisForsythe Racing12 Laguna Seca Raceway Tony Kanaan Tony Kanaan Tony KanaanTasman Motorsports
Race summaries
Homestead race Held March 3 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. David Empringham won the pole.
Top Five Results David Empringham Chris Simmons Mark Hotchkis David DeSilva Jeff Ward
Long Beach race Held April 14 at Long Beach, California Street Course. Gualter Salles won the pole.
Top Five Results David Empringham Tony Kanaan Gualter Salles Hélio Castro-Neves Alex Padilla
Nazareth race Held April 28 at Nazareth Speedway. Claude Bourbonnais won the pole.
Top Five Results David DeSilva David Empringham Mark Hotchkis Chris Simmons Jeff Ward
Michigan race Held May 25 at Michigan International Speedway. David Empringham won the pole. This was the Indy Lights series' first race on a high-banked speedway.
Top Five Results David Empringham Mark Hotchkis Jeff Ward Robby Unser Hélio Castro-Neves
Milwaukee race Held June 2 at The Milwaukee Mile. Mark Hotchkis won the pole.
Top Five Results Mark Hotchkis Greg Ray David Empringham Gualter Salles Chris Simmons
Detroit race Held June 9 at Belle Isle Raceway. David Empringham won the pole.
Top Five Results Tony Kanaan Alex Padilla Claude Bourbonnais José Luis Di Palma Jaki Scheckter
Portland race Held June 23 at Portland International Raceway. Tony Kanaan won the pole.
Top Five Results Gualter Salles Alex Padilla David Empringham Claude Bourbonnais Tony Kanaan
Cleveland race Held June 30 at Burke Lakefront Airport. Mark Hotchkis won the pole.
Top Five Results Gualter Salles Claude Bourbonnais Hélio Castro-Neves Nick Firestone Hideki Noda
Toronto race Held July 14 at Exhibition Place. Jeff Ward won the pole.
Top Five Results Gualter Salles Claude Bourbonnais Hideki Noda Shigeaki Hattori Alex Padilla
Trois-Rivières race Held August 4 at the Trois-Rivières, Quebec Street Circuit. Hélio Castro-Neves won the pole.
Top Five Results Hélio Castro-Neves Tony Kanaan Alex Padilla David Empringham Bertrand Godin
Vancouver race Held September 1 at Pacific Place. Jeff Ward won the pole.
Top Five Results Claude Bourbonnais Tony Kanaan Jeff Hotchkis Alex Padilla David Empringham
Laguna Seca race Held September 8 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Tony Kanaan won the pole.
Top Five Results Tony Kanaan Hélio Castro-Neves Claude Bourbonnais Alex Padilla Jeff Ward
Championship standings
Drivers' championship
Scoring system
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th Points20161412108654321
The driver who qualifies on pole is awarded one additional point. An additional point is awarded to the driver who leads the most laps in a race.
PosDriverHMSLBHNAZMISMILDETPORCLETORTROVANLAGPoints1 David Empringham 1* 1* 2 1* 3 21 3 21 6 4 5 61482 Tony Kanaan 10 2 12 17 7 1* 5 19 24 2 2* 1*1133 Gualter Salles 6 3 11 6 4 22 1* 1* 1* 15 21 191084 Claude Bourbonnais Wth 7 16 18 8 3 4 2 2 20 1 31045 Mark Hotchkis 3 9 3 2 1* 9 10 18 9 19 3 71026 Alex Padilla 17 5 15 17 2 2 20 5 3 4 4907 Hélio Castroneves DNS 4 17 5 11 17 8 3 23 1* 10 2848 David DeSilva 4 10 1* 7 19 6 12 16 15 7 18 9619 José Luís Di Palma 15 6 6 8 14 4 11 7 8 11 6 135610 Chris Simmons 2 23 4 12 5 7 21 11 14 17 7 125411 Jeff Ward 5 8 5 3 DNS 11 17 13 20 16 20 55312 Greg Ray 7 11 18 15 2 8 6 10 16 6 17 164813 Shigeaki Hattori 9 DNS 10 19 6 13 7 9 4 8 16 144214 Hideki Noda 11 16 7 13 12 16 20 5 3 12 13 153415 Robby Unser 13 15 14 4 10 10 15 10 9 14 202516 Bertrand Godin 7 5 11 102117 Felipe Giaffone 14 24 13 10 9 18 16 6 22 82018 Nick Firestone 11 16 20 9 4 19 1819 Jaki Scheckter 5 18 111220 Jack Miller 21 18 6 20 18 15 19 14 21 10 9 231221 Roque Aranda 20 9 9 822 Freddy van Beuren 12 12 13 8 17723 Doug Boyer 8 22 16 13 19 524 Casey Mears 8 525 Robbie Buhl 11 226 Rodolfo Lavín 16 19 14 15 12 14 15 13 18 12 21227 Shan Groff 12 22128 José Cordova 12 25 129 Mauricio Slaviero 13 17 18 030 Mattias Andersson 20 13 031 Sohrab Amirsardari 14 17 032 José Giaffone 14 19 18033 Andy Boss 19 14 034 David LaCroix 15 035 Niclas Jönsson 17 036 Diego Guzmán 18 037 Peter Faucetta Jr. 19038 Paulo Carcasci 21039 Danny Candía 22040 Bob Reid 22041 Harry Puterbaugh Jr. 23 DNS0PosDriverHMSLBHNAZMISMILDETPORCLETORTROVANLAGPointsColorResultGoldWinnerSilver2nd placeBronze3rd placeGreen4th & 5th placeLight Blue6th–10th placeDark BlueFinished (Outside Top 10)PurpleDid not finishRedDid not qualify (DNQ)BrownWithdrawn (Wth)BlackDisqualified (DSQ)WhiteDid not start (DNS)BlankDid not participate (DNP)Not competingIn-line notationBoldPole position(1 point)ItalicsRan fastest race lap*Led most race laps (2 points)1Qualifying cancelled no bonus point awarded
Ties in points broken by number of wins, or best finishes.
References