The 1996

Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in downtown Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder of the event. It wa ...

was the 4th round of the

1996 IndyCar season 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 wa ...

. It happened on April 14, 1996, on the streets of

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

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,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian driver André Ribeiro crashed at turn 1. He retired. At lap 14, the top 6 was:

Gil de Ferran Gil de Ferran (born November 11, 1967 in Paris, France) is a French-born Brazilian professional racing driver and team owner. De Ferran was the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car champion driving for Team Penske and the winner of the 2003 Indianapolis 5 ...

Alex Zanardi Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi (; born 23 October 1966) is an Italian professional racing driver and paracyclist. He won the CART championship in 1997 and 1998, and took 15 wins in the series. He also raced in Formula One from 1991 to 1994 and aga ...

Jimmy Vasser James Vasser Jr. (born November 20, 1965) is an American former racing driver. Vasser won the 1996 CART IndyCar championship with Chip Ganassi Racing, and scored ten victories in the series. Vasser was the last American to win the CART champio ...

, Scott Pruett,

Paul Tracy Paul Anthony Tracy (born December 17, 1968) is a Canadian-American former professional auto racing driver who competed in CART, the Champ Car World Series and the IndyCar Series. He is known by the nicknames "PT" and "the Thrill from West Hill". ...

and

Parker Johnstone Parker Johnstone III (born March 27, 1961) is a former race car driver and motorsports announcer from Redmond, Oregon. An accomplished musician, he was the principal trumpet of the International Youth Orchestra, touring Europe, playing with Herb ...

. The 1st caution came out at lap 39, as Zanardi had hit

Bobby Rahal Robert Woodward Rahal (born January 10, 1953) is an American former auto racing driver and team owner. As a driver he won three championships and 24 races in the CART open-wheel series, including the 1986 Indianapolis 500. He also won the 2004 ...

at turn 1. Zanardi retired. At the same lap,

Robby Gordon Robert Wesley Gordon (born January 2, 1969) is an American auto racing driver. He has raced in NASCAR, CART, the IndyCar Series, the Trans-Am Series, IMSA, IROC and the Dakar Rally. He is active in top-tier off road motorsports such as BITD, N ...

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 Christian Fittipaldi (born 18 January 1971) is a Brazilian former racing driver who has competed in various forms of motorsport including Formula One, Champ Car, and NASCAR. He was a highly rated young racing driver in the early 1990s, and parti ...

at the last turn before the hairpin. Both retired.

Emerson Fittipaldi Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once. Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...

had hit some debris from that collision, thus, damaging the suspension of his car. He also retired.

Al Unser Jr. Alfred Unser Jr. (born April 19, 1962), nicknamed "Little Al", "Al Junior", or simply "Junior", is a retired American race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner. History Unser was born into a racing family in Albuquerque, New Mexico. ...

was now in sixth place. Then, at lap 54,

Raul Boesel Raul de Mesquita Boesel (, born 4 December 1957) is a Brazilian former racing driver who raced for the March and Ligier Formula One teams and later raced in Champ Car and the Indy Racing League. He won the 1987 World Sportscar Championship and t ...

committed a mistake and missed the turn 1. He would do this again laps later. At lap 57, Robby Gordon had hit

Bryan Herta Bryan John Herta (born May 23, 1970) is an American former race car driver. He currently runs his own team, Bryan Herta Autosport in the NTT IndyCar Series. His team won the 2011 Indianapolis 500 with driver Dan Wheldon and the 2016 Indianapolis ...

at the hairpin. They did not retired. At lap 65,

Teo Fabi Teodorico Fabi (born 9 March 1955) is an Italian former racing driver. He competed in Formula One and sports car racing, and claimed pole position in his rookie year at the 1983 Indianapolis 500. Teo is the older brother of former Formula One dri ...

, who was replacing

Mark Blundell Mark Blundell (born 8 April 1966) is a British racing driver who competed in Formula One for four seasons, sports cars, and CART. He won the 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans. He was a Formula One presenter for the British broadcaster ITV until the en ...

, 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 Michael Mario Andretti (born October 5, 1962) is an American semi-retired auto racing driver and current team owner. Statistically one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, Andretti won the 1991 CART PP ...

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 Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the main ...

, Andretti,

Roberto Moreno Roberto Pupo Moreno (born 11 February 1959), usually known as Roberto Moreno and also as Pupo Moreno, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 15 championship p ...

Eddie Lawson Eddie Lawson (born March 11, 1958) is an American former four-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion. His record of not crashing and consistently finishing in the points earned him the nickname "Steady Eddie".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 Dennis Vitolo (born December 18, 1956) is an American former race driver who competed in the CART series. He raced in the 1988 and 1991-1999 seasons with 36 career starts, including the 1994 Indianapolis 500. He was involved in a crash in that ...

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

collided at the hairpin. Jimmy Vasser won the race.

Final results

References

{{s-end Grand Prix of Long Beach

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

Grand Prix Of Long Beach The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in downtown Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder of the event. It wa ...