The 1996 ITT Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit was a CART race which happened at the Detroit Belle Isle street circuit. It happened on June 9, 1996. It was the 8th round of the 1996 IndyCar season.
Race Lap 2 Christian Fittipaldi takes the lead from Scott Pruett.
Lap 4 Top 6: Christian Fittipaldi, Gil de Ferran, Paul Tracy, Scott Pruett, Robby Gordon and Michael Andretti. First full course caution was out after Gordon had hit the tire wall. Green flag came out on lap 10.
Lap 13 Top 12: Christian Fittipaldi, Gil de Ferran, Paul Tracy, Michael Andretti, Scott Pruett, André Ribeiro, Adrian Fernandez, Al Unser Jr., Bobby Rahal, Parker Johnstone, Mark Blundell and Alex Zanardi.
Some laps later Second full course caution, as Greg Moore and André Ribeiro crashed. Neither the Canadian, nor the Brazilian had retired. One lap later, Gil de Ferran spun after leaving the pits.
Lap 25 Top 6: Christian Fittipaldi, Michael Andretti, Paul Tracy, Gil de Ferran, Al Unser Jr. and Bobby Rahal. Green flag came out on lap 31.
Laps 36-37 At the very same curve, Emerson Fittipaldi and André Ribeiro crashed, but not simultaneously. Fittipaldi brushed the wall on lap 36. Ribeiro would do the same on the following lap. Both drivers retired.
Lap 46 Shades of 1994 came out, as Al Unser Jr. and Paul Tracy once again were involved into a crash. Two years before, both drivers collided, as Little Al went into the tyre barrier. The same fate happened on lap 46 of the 1996 race. Third caution was out. Green flag came out on lap 53.
Lap 57 Top 6: Christian Fittipaldi, Andretti, de Ferran, Rahal, Tracy and Pruett.
Lap 61 Fourth caution was out, as Bobby Rahal had a hard crash.
Lap 65 Green flag came out. Christian Fittipaldi went wide and Michael Andretti takes the lead. Meanwhile, Paul Tracy crashed very hard. Fifth full course caution. Few laps later, came the green flag.
1 lap after the restart Scott Pruett caused the sixth full course caution as he crashed into the tyre barrier. Green flag came out with two minutes left.
Lap 72 As the race completed the 2-hour limit, Michael Andretti won the race on lap 72. 5 laps before the predicted laps.
Box score FinishGridNameTeamChassisEngineTireLapsTime/Status 1 9 6 Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Lola T96/00 Ford 72 2:00:45.451 7 20 2 6 11 Christian Fittipaldi Newman/Haas Racing Lola T96/00 Ford 72 +1.409 64 17 3 7 8 Gil de Ferran Hall Racing Reynard 96I Honda 72 +4.282 0 14 4 3 32 Adrián Fernández Tasman Motorsports Lola T96/00 Honda 72 +7.428 0 12 5 15 21 Mark Blundell PacWest Racing Reynard 96I Ford 72 +9.207 0 10 6 23 10 Eddie Lawson Galles Racing Lola T96/00 Mercedes-Benz 72 +9.630 0 8 7 22 16 Stefan Johansson Bettenhausen Motorsports Reynard 96I Mercedes-Benz 72 +9.867 0 6 8 18 1 Raul Boesel Brahma Sports Team Reynard 96I Ford 72 +11.170 0 5 9 25 98 P. J. Jones All American Racers Eagle Mk-V Toyota 72 +15.840 0 4 10 1 20 Scott Pruett Patrick Racing Lola T96/00 Ford 72 +25.192 1 4 11 5 4 Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard 96I Honda 71 +1 Lap 0 2 12 20 12 Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard 96I Honda 71 +1 Lap 0 1 13 16 28 Bryan Herta Team Rahal Reynard 96I Mercedes-Benz 71 +1 Lap 0 0 14 4 49 Parker Johnstone Brix Comptech Racing Reynard 96I Honda 71 +1 Lap 0 0 15 21 25 Jeff Krosnoff Arciero-Wells Racing Reynard 96I Toyota 71 +1 Lap 0 0 16 19 17 Maurício Gugelmin PacWest Racing Reynard 96I Ford 71 +1 Lap 0 0 17 11 3 Paul Tracy Marlboro Team Penske Penske PC-25 Mercedes-Benz 71 +1 Lap 0 0 18 24 36 Juan Manuel Fangio II All American Racers Eagle Mk-V Toyota 71 +1 Lap 0 0 19 26 19 Hiro Matsushita Payton-Coyne Racing Lola T96/00 Ford 69 +3 Laps 0 0 20 14 99 Greg Moore Forsythe Racing Reynard 96I Mercedes-Benz 67 +5 Laps 0 0 21 8 18 Bobby Rahal Team Rahal Reynard 96I Mercedes-Benz 60 Crash 0 0 22 12 2 Al Unser Jr. Marlboro Team Penske Penske PC-25 Mercedes-Benz 46 Crash 0 0 23 13 34 Roberto Moreno Payton-Coyne Racing Lola T96/00 Ford 41 Exhaust 0 0 24 2 31 André Ribeiro Tasman Motorsports Lola T96/00 Honda 37 Crash 0 0 25 17 9 Emerson Fittipaldi Hogan-Penske Racing Penske PC-25 Mercedes-Benz 36 Crash 0 0 26 10 5 Robby Gordon Walker Racing Reynard 96I Ford 3 Crash 0 0 Source:1996 ITT Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit1996 Detroit Grand Prix
Failed to qualify Michel Jourdain Jr. (#22) - withdrawn after Sunday's warmup (unknown reason)
Race statistics
Lap Leaders Laps Leader 1 Scott Pruett 2–65 Christian Fittipaldi 66–72 Michael Andretti
Cautions: 6 for 24 laps Laps Reason 4–9 Robby Gordon crash turn 8 24–30 André Ribeiro and Greg Moore crash turn 13 47–52 Al Unser Jr. crash turn 4 62–65 Bobby Rahal crash turn 13 67 Paul Tracy and Scott Pruett crash turn 7 69–70 Scott Pruett crash turn 4
Point standings After 8 of 16 races Jimmy Vasser 98 points Al Unser Jr. 75 points Michael Andretti 71 points Christian Fittipaldi 58 points Gil de Ferran 55 points Scott Pruett 54 points
References