1996 IndyCar Rio 400

The 1996 Rio 400 was a CART race at the Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway. It happened on March 17, 1996. It was the 2nd round of the 1996 IndyCar season.

1996 Rio 400

Race details
Race 2 of 16 in the 1996 IndyCar season
Date	March 17, 1996
Official name	IndyCar Rio 400
Location	Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.864 mi / 3.000 km
Distance	133 laps 247.912 mi / 398.976 km
Pole position
Driver	Alex Zanardi (Target Chip Ganassi Racing)
Time	167.084 mph
Fastest lap
Driver	Gil de Ferran (Jim Hall)
Time	167.3 mph (on lap of 133)
Podium
First	André Ribeiro (Tasman Motorsports)
Second	Al Unser Jr. (Penske Racing)
Third	Scott Pruett (Patrick Racing)

Starting grid

1. Alex Zanardi
2. Jimmy Vasser
3. André Ribeiro
4. Greg Moore
5. Parker Johnstone
6. Bobby Rahal
7. Gil de Ferran
8. Adrian Fernandez
9. Maurício Gugelmin
10. Scott Pruett
11. Robby Gordon
12. Al Unser Jr.
13. Emerson Fittipaldi
14. Roberto Moreno
15. Michael Andretti
16. Bryan Herta
17. Carlos Guerrero
18. Mark Blundell
19. Eddie Lawson
20. Hiro Matsushita
21. Stefan Johansson
22. Jeff Krosnoff
23. Marco Greco
24. Juan Manuel Fangio II
25. Paul Tracy
26. Raul Boesel
27. Christian Fittipaldi

Did not start

1. Scott Goodyear Wrecked during practice; sidelined for most of the season

Race

On lap 11, Mark Blundell had a serious crash in turn 4, suffering a broken foot. The race continued under yellow caution flags until lap 23, with Alex Zanardi leading from Greg Moore and André Ribeiro. De Ferran ran out of fuel on lap 80. Moore had taken the lead, but retired with suspension problems on lap 115. Ribeiro eventually won from Al Unser Jr. and Scott Pruett.

Box Score

Finish	Grid	No	Name	Team	Chassis	Engine	Tire	Laps	Time/Status	Led	Points
1	3	31	André Ribeiro	Tasman Motorsports	Lola T96/00	Honda	F	133	2:06:08.100	19	20
2	12	2	Al Unser Jr.	Marlboro Team Penske	Penske PC-25	Mercedes-Benz	G	133	+2.141	0	16
3	10	20	Scott Pruett	Patrick Racing	Lola T96/00	Ford	F	133	+2.732	0	14
4	1	4	Alex Zanardi	Chip Ganassi Racing	Reynard 96I	Honda	F	133	+2.767	64	14
5	27	11	Christian Fittipaldi	Newman/Haas Racing	Lola T96/00	Ford	G	133	+3.540	0	10
6	6	18	Bobby Rahal	Team Rahal	Reynard 96I	Mercedes-Benz	G	133	+4.051	0	8
7	26	1	Raul Boesel	Brahma Sports Team	Reynard 96I	Ford	G	133	+5.110	0	6
8	2	12	Jimmy Vasser	Chip Ganassi Racing	Reynard 96I	Honda	F	132	+1 Lap	0	5
9	14	34	Roberto Moreno	Payton-Coyne Racing	Lola T96/00	Ford	F	132	+1 Lap	0	4
10	7	8	Gil de Ferran	Hall Racing	Reynard 96I	Honda	G	131	+2 Laps	20	3
11	13	9	Emerson Fittipaldi	Hogan-Penske Racing	Penske PC-25	Mercedes-Benz	G	131	+2 Laps	0	2
12	23	7	Marco Greco	Team Scandia	Lola T96/00	Ford	G	131	+2 Laps	0	1
13	16	28	Bryan Herta	Team Rahal	Reynard 96I	Mercedes-Benz	G	131	+2 Laps	0	0
14	8	32	Adrián Fernández	Tasman Motorsports	Lola T96/00	Honda	F	126	+7 Laps	0	0
15	11	5	Robby Gordon	Walker Racing	Reynard 96I	Ford	G	124	Crash	2	0
16	5	49	Parker Johnstone	Brix Comptech Racing	Reynard 96I	Honda	F	118	Fuel	0	0
17	24	36	Juan Manuel Fangio II	All American Racers	Eagle Mk-V	Toyota	G	118	+15 Laps	0	0
18	4	99	Greg Moore	Forsythe Racing	Reynard 96I	Mercedes-Benz	F	116	Engine	28	0
19	25	3	Paul Tracy	Marlboro Team Penske	Penske PC-25	Mercedes-Benz	G	102	Crash	0	0
20	17	22	Carlos Guerrero	Team Scandia	Lola T96/00	Ford	G	95	Engine	0	0
21	19	10	Eddie Lawson	Galles Racing	Lola T96/00	Mercedes-Benz	G	87	Drive line	0	0
22	15	6	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Lola T96/00	Ford	G	86	Engine	0	0
23	21	16	Stefan Johansson	Bettenhausen Motorsports	Reynard 96I	Mercedes-Benz	G	61	Cooling	0	0
24	20	19	Hiro Matsushita	Payton-Coyne Racing	Lola T96/00	Ford	F	53	Header	0	0
25	9	17	Maurício Gugelmin	PacWest Racing	Reynard 96I	Ford	G	49	Suspension	0	0
26	22	25	Jeff Krosnoff	Arciero-Wells Racing	Reynard 96I	Toyota	F	37	Engine	0	0
27	18	21	Mark Blundell	PacWest Racing	Reynard 96I	Ford	G	10	Crash	0	0
Source:[1][2]

Did not qualify

• Scott Goodyear (#15) - withdrawn, injured in practice crash.

Race statistics

Lap Leaders
Laps	Leader
1–6	Alex Zanardi
7	André Ribeiro
8–60	Alex Zanardi
61–80	Gil de Ferran
81–97	Greg Moore
98–102	Alex Zanardi
103–104	Robby Gordon
105–115	Greg Moore
116–133	André Ribeiro

Point standings

After 2 of 16 races

1. Scott Pruett 26 points
2. Jimmy Vasser 25 points
3. Al Unser Jr. 21 points
4. André Ribeiro 20 points
5. Gil de Ferran 19 points
6. Bobby Rahal 18 points