1996 24 Hours of Le Mans

File:Circuit de la Sarthe Le Mans 1990-2001.png

Le Mans in 1996

The 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 64th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 15 and 16 June 1996. It was won by a Tom Walkinshaw-Porsche prototype run by Joest Racing with drivers Davy Jones, Manuel Reuter and Le Mans rookie Alexander Wurz completing 354 laps. While not being the fastest car on track, it hit the front in the first hour and aside from several pit-stop overlaps, was never headed as other teams hit mechanical troubles during the race. This was Reuter's second Le Mans victory, and the first for Jones (after finishing as runner-up in 1991 with Jaguar) and Wurz, who, at 22 years old, became the youngest ever Le Mans overall winner.

Regulations and Entries

Still very satisfied with its equivalency formulae between the prototypes and GTs, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) made only slight adjustments to its regulations, by including engine volume and turbo boost into its calculations. LMP1 and P2 got closer to the IMSA-WSC category with new, updated, bodywork dimensions.

The summary, as compared to the 1995 regulations was:

• LM WSC (P1) max 5.1L or 3.0L (turbo), fuel tank 80L, max tyre width 16", min weight 875 kg
• LM P2: max 3.4L or 2.0L (turbo), fuel tank 62L, max tyre width 14", min weight 650 kg
• LM GT1: max 8.0L or 4.0L (turbo), fuel tank 100L, max tyre width 14" (front) & 12" (rear), min weight based on a sliding scale
• LM GT2 had the same specifications as the LM GT1

In GT1, major engine modifications were now allowed while GT2 still had to use series-production engines.

This year the ACO halved the number of automatic entries from 20 to 10. They received an initial 107 applications and accepted 66 for pre-Qualifying in April on top of the automatic-10, to pare down to 53 for race week (48 starters + 5 reserves).

Still with no co-ordinated European sports car series after the demise of the World Sportscar Championship after the 1992 season, there were only 14 prototypes, albeit of a high quality. As expected, the bulk of the field was in GT: 27 cars in GT1 plus 12 in GT2. Many teams came from the thriving BPR Global series.

In prototypes, Kremer and Courage returned, this time challenged by a new Porsche prototype developed by Joest Racing in conjunction with TWR Motorsport. The TWR-Porsche WSC-95 was born from the shell of a TWR-designed Jaguar XJR-14 racing car, modified to an open top design by Tom Walkinshaw Racing, and fitted with the Porsche 962 engine.

Three IMSA-WSC cars turned up: two Ferrari 333 SP's run by Scandia Racing versus the much-improved Riley & Scott (winner of the Daytona and Sebring enduros). In another small LM P2 field of four cars, Welter and Bonnet were joined by a Kudzu-Mazda stepping across from WSC and now run directly by the Mazdaspeed works team.

In GT1, defending champions McLaren-BMW had updated 1996-spec cars, with tighter air restrictors dropping the power output slightly. This time they included a pair run as a BMW works team (through their Italian partners Bigazzi). The McLarens were joined again by Nissan, Toyota and Lister (now sponsored by Newcastle United Football Club). Chrysler-Dodge returned with a quartet of Vipers with their big rumbling 8-litre engines; one pair run by ORECA in the BPR and the second pair by Canaska-Southwind in the North American series.

But, perhaps as might be expected, the big news was with Porsche and the new 911 GT1 - yet again courting controversy. This was, quite literally, virtually a Porsche 911 in name only, with the visual similarity of a squashed, lengthened 911. This was Porsche's first ever mid-engined car, using a purpose-designed 3.2L flat-six, twin-turbo, water-cooled (another first for Porsche) engine. The first chassis was ready in March, and with only two road-going cars it got EU GT1 homologation (again, like the Dauer-Porsche of '94, using the "promised-production" clause).

Qualification

The fastest practice times this year were being done by the prototypes. In the first instance Eric van der Poele, this year in the Scandia Ferrari, set the initial pace. But it was Pierluigi Martini (just out of F1) who set the pole in his Joest TWR-Porsche, just a tenth of a second ahead of the Courage of Jérôme Policand. Van der Poele was third ahead of the 911 GT1s of Wendlinger and Wollek, and Taylor in the Riley & Scott.

In a novel change this year the ACO decided to line up the first dozen cars on the grid with the six fastest cars from each category two-by-two - prototypes on the left and GT cars on the right. With only a second between the first five cars this was not as skewed as might have seemed, giving further credence to the equivalency regulations. The first McLaren was Bigazzi's Steve Soper in 8th place (but starting 6th as the 3rd-fastest GT1 car). In LMP2 the WRs would be here for the last time (the ACO regulations for 1997 demanded 2-seater vehicles). They could not repeat the heroics of 1995, when they started on the front row of the grid. This year Gonin was 12th fastest, more than four seconds off last year's pole time. David in the other WR was a further 3 seconds slower. But their opposition fared worse - the new Kudzu was 23rd on the grid and the Debora, after electronics problems in Qualifying, then blew its engine on the morning warm-up and would not take the start.

In GT2, the predictable crowd of privateer Porsche 911s (in the current 993 GT2 version) were up against the Kunimitsu Honda NSX, back to defend its win last year. There was only a single Callaway (from Agusta) and a new Marcos from the small English company. Fastest was the Porsche of Roock Racing, a new team coming from the German GT series, setting the pace in the BPR series this year. It had a comfortable margin over the Callaway and the Porsche of the PARR Motorsport team from New Zealand (here celebrating 30 years since the three NZ drivers Bruce McLaren, Chris Amon and Denny Hulme finished first and second for Ford's first Le Mans win).

Qualifying results

Class leaders are in bold.

Pos	Class	No.	Team	Car	Time	Gap
1	LMP1	8	Joest Racing	TWR Porsche WSC-95	3:46.682
2	LMP1	3	Courage Compétition	Courage C36	3:46.792	+0.110
3	WSC	17	Racing For Belgium Team Scandia	Ferrari 333 SP	3:46.838	+0.156
4	LMGT1	26	Porsche AG	Porsche 911 GT1	3:47.132	+0.450
5	LMGT1	25	Porsche AG	Porsche 911 GT1	3:47.139	+0.457
6	LMP1	7	Joest Racing	TWR Porsche WSC-95	3:47.383	+0.701
7	WSC	19	Riley & Scott Cars Inc.	Riley & Scott Mk III	3:47.635	+0.953
8	LMGT1	38	Team Bigazzi SRL	McLaren F1 GTR	3:48.530	+1.848
9	LMP1	4	Courage Compétition	Courage C36	3:49.749	+3.067
10	LMGT1	33	Gulf Racing	McLaren F1 GTR	3:49.951	+3.269
11	LMP1	1	Kremer Racing	Kremer K8 Spyder	3:50.130	+3.448
12	LMP2	14	Welter Racing SARL	WR LM96	3:50.252	+3.570
13	WSC	18	Rocketsports Inc.	Ferrari 333 SP	3:50.849	+4.167
14	LMGT1	34	Gulf Racing	McLaren F1 GTR	3:51.292	+4.610
15	LMGT1	39	Team Bigazzi SRL	McLaren F1 GTR	3:51.547	+4.865
16	LMGT1	45	Ennea SRL Igol	Ferrari F40 GTE	3:52.072	+5.390
17	LMP1	5	La Filière	Courage C36	3:52.149	+5.467
18	LMP1	2	Kremer Racing	Kremer K8 Spyder	3:52.376	+5.694
19	LMP2	15	Welter Racing SARL	WR LM96	3:53.954	+7.272
20	LMGT1	53	Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing	McLaren F1 GTR	3:54.026	+7.344
21	LMGT1	28	Newcastle United Lister	Lister Storm GTS	3:54.603	+7.921
22	LMGT1	44	Ennea SRL Igol	Ferrari F40 GTE	3:54.730	+8.048
23	LMGT1	30	West Competition	McLaren F1 GTR	3:55.924	+9.242
24	LMGT1	29	Harrods Mach One Racing	McLaren F1 GTR	3:56.021	+9.339
25	LMGT1	56	Pilot Racing	Ferrari F40 LM	3:57.225	+10.543
26	LMP2	20	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.	Kudzu DLM	3:57.336	+10.654
27	LMGT1	50	Société Viper Team Oreca	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	3:59.062	+12.380
28	LMGT1	55	Roock Racing Team	Porsche 911 GT2 Evo	3:59.630	+12.948
29	LMGT1	23	Nismo	Nismo Skyline GT-R LM	3:59.946	+13.264
30	LMGT1	48	Canaska Southwind Motorsport	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	4:01.195	+14.513
31	LMGT1	59	Ennea SRL	Ferrari F40 GTE	4:02.055	+15.373
32	LMGT1	49	Canaska Southwind Motorsport	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	4:03.781	+17.099
33	LMGT1	37	Konrad Motorsport	Porsche 911 GT2 Evo	4:05.148	+18.466
34	LMGT2	79	Roock Racing Team	Porsche 911 GT2	4:05.889	+19.207
35	LMGT1	22	Nismo	Nismo Skyline GT-R LM	4:06.184	+19.502
36	LMGT1	57	Toyota Team SARD	Toyota Supra LM	4:06.532	+19.850
37	LMGT2	74	Agusta Racing Team	Callaway Corvette LM600	4:09.350	+22.668
38	LMGT1	46	Team Menicon SARD	SARD MC8-R	4:09.353	+22.671
39	LMGT2	83	New Hardware/Parr Motorsport	Porsche 911 GT2	4:10.204	+23.552
40	LMGT2	73	Elf Haberthur Racing	Porsche 911 GT2	4:10.781	+24.099
41	LMGT1	27	Société Chéreau Sports	Porsche 911 GT2 Evo	4:10.848	+24.166
42	LMGT1	51	Société Viper Team Oreca	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	4:11.014	+24.332
43	LMGT2	81	Team Marcos	Marcos LM600	4:11.660	+24.978
44	LMGT2	82	Société Larbre Compétition	Porsche 911 GT2	4:11.789	+25.107
45	LMGT2	70	Steve O'Rourke	Porsche 911 GT2	4:12.787	+26.105
46	LMGT2	71	New Hardware/Parr Motorsport	Porsche 911 GT2	4:12.878	+26.196
47	LMGT2	75	Team Kunimitsu	Honda NSX	4:18.473	+31.791
48	LMGT2	77	Seikel Motorsport	Porsche 911 GT2	4:22.697	+36.015

Race

Start

The start was brought forward to 3pm to accommodate the thousands of British fans on site to watch the England-Scotland football match at the Euro championships. Unlike last year's heavy rain, the race started in sunshine. Dalmas and Wollek in the works Porsche GT1s raced into the lead for the first four laps until overtaken in turn by the two Joest TWR-Porsches of Jones & Theys. With wider tyres, lower weights and better aerodynamics the TWRs were able to make a break on the field while others had their problems: Boutsen and Dalmas both fell off the track, losing minutes. Cottaz, in the fastest Courage, had kept up with the top four initially, but lost time in the second hour with electronics issues. Likewise the best Kremer was well in the top ten. Both cars in the Gulf and Bigazzi McLaren teams filled out the lower half of the top ten.

Night

The Joest cars maintained a comfortable 1–2 lead going into the night. The veteran team of Wollek/Stuck/Boutsen kept in touch in the Porsche GT1 and finally took back second place at half-race distance from Theys' pole-sitting TWR. After its delays, the Cottaz/Alliot/Policand Courage had quickly moved back up through the field and was fourth and fifth, until Alliot crashed the Courage at Tertre Rouge just after dawn. The remaining Ferrari prototype (sponsored by a charity of 1001 Belgian royalty, celebrities and citizens) had tyre problems at the start, but like the Courage it had steadily made up places to be fifth.

The Riley & Scott, American enduro-champ, had run well during the day despite being excessively thirsty, but after several offs it slipped down the board and at 2.30am it broke down marooning Pace on the Mulsanne.

At 4.30 Duez, running 7th, bought the first Bigazzi McLaren into the pits stuck in gear. After two gearbox changes during the next day, they eventually finished 11th. The Ferrari F40s were never as competitive as the previous year and by dawn all four cars had retired, including a short, sudden, spectacular fuel-fire in the pits for the Ratel entry.

Morning

A charging triple stint by Stuck almost got the Porsche GT1 to the front, but the leaders always had enough in hand. At 9.20 Martini dropped the second TWR in the gravel at the first Mulsanne chicane, and the time spent doing repairs dropped them to fourth, behind Ray Bellm's Gulf McLaren. But then the McLaren was stopped for a gearbox change at midday, taking 90 minutes, and dropping them in turn down to 10th. After several offs by Wendlinger and Goodyear in the night, the second Porsche GT1 had fallen down to 12th, but by early-morning had recovered back to fifth. The other Bigazzi McLaren of F1 champion Nelson Piquet, just like its sister car, was in 7th place when it too was stopped for an hour with a gearbox change. With race attrition they were able to get back to 8th by the finish, just ahead of Bellm's Gulf McLaren.

Just after dawn, the Ferrari needed a gearbox change, taking half an hour, dropping it to 10th. Van der Poele then took off, setting the race's fastest lap several times then at 7am, when back into fifth, Éric Bachelart crashed out at the Esses.

In GT2, the leading Roock Racing Porsche had to replace its driveshaft at midday, but had enough in hand to keep its lead.

Finish and Post-race

The Jones/Reuter/Wurz car never missed a beat, and was never headed on the scoring charts. In the end they won by a lap from the Porsche GT1, yet again Bob Wollek was beaten back to second place (and yet again, stymied by time lost to off-track excursions). At just 22 years of age, Alexander Wurz became the youngest ever Le Mans winner, starting an F1 career exactly a year later to the day, with Benetton at the Canadian Grand Prix. Reinhold Joest's deal with Porsche said that he could keep the car if it was a race-winner, and it was to reappear again for the 1997 race.

With only 40 minutes remaining, the driveshaft broke on the second TWR, stranding the unlucky Martini out on the circuit at Arnage. Third place fell into the lap of the other Porsche GT1, finishing a distant 13 laps behind the winners. McLarens took the next three places: the two troubled DPR-team cars and the second car from Gulf Racing. These included Derek Bell, finally drawing the curtain on an illustrious Le Mans career at the age of 54; a career of over 25 years, it included five outright victories and a pair of 2nd-places, as well as winning the Daytona 24 hours three times and twice winning the World Sportscar Championship, thus marking him as one of the all-time great sports car drivers.

Seventh was the Pescarolo/Lagorce/Collard Courage of the La Filière team (a motorsport academy at the Le Mans circuit), and the second prototype home. Down 27 laps they lost an hour replacing a clutch during the night.

The Roock Racing Porsche easily won the GT2 class finishing 12th overall and four laps ahead of the PARR Motorsport Porsche. The Kiwi Porsche had a trouble-free race, spending the least time in the pits of any car except for the winning TWR-Porsche. The Japanese GTs were uncompetitive against the Porsches and McLarens, and those that did finish were well down the board. The Kudzu-Mazda was the only LMP2 finisher, coming in at the back of the field nearly 100 laps behind the winners.

After Le Mans, the Porsche works team entered their GT1s in three races of the BPR Global series, winning all three. In the new year, they sold further cars to customer teams, usurping McLaren to become the new dominant force in GT racing.

Andy Evans, owner of the Scandia Team running the Ferrari prototypes, along with Roberto Muller (ex-CEO of Reebok) bought control of the American IMSA organisation, and the changes led to the resignation of a number of the board members and the formation of a breakaway series by the USRRC.

Official results

Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Tyre	Laps
					Engine
1	LMP1	7	Template:Flagicon Joest Racing	Template:Flagicon Davy Jones Template:Flagicon Alexander Wurz Template:Flagicon Manuel Reuter	TWR Porsche WSC-95	G	354
					Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
2	LMGT1	25	Template:Flagicon Porsche AG	Template:Flagicon Hans-Joachim Stuck Template:Flagicon Thierry Boutsen Template:Flagicon Bob Wollek	Porsche 911 GT1	M	353
					Porsche 3.2 L Turbo Flat-6
3	LMGT1	26	Template:Flagicon Porsche AG	Template:Flagicon Karl Wendlinger Template:Flagicon Yannick Dalmas Template:Flagicon Scott Goodyear	Porsche 911 GT1	M	341
					Porsche 3.2 L Turbo Flat-6
4	LMGT1	30	Template:Flagicon West Competition	Template:Flagicon John Nielsen Template:Flagicon Thomas Bscher Template:Flagicon Peter Kox	McLaren F1 GTR	G	338
					BMW S70 6.1 L V12
5	LMGT1	34	Template:Flagicon Gulf Racing	Template:Flagicon Pierre-Henri Raphanel Template:Flagicon Lindsay Owen-Jones Template:Flagicon David Brabham	McLaren F1 GTR	M	335
					BMW S70 6.1 L V12
6	LMGT1	29	Template:Flagicon Harrods Mach One Racing	Template:Flagicon Andy Wallace Template:Flagicon Olivier Grouillard Template:Flagicon Derek Bell	McLaren F1 GTR	G	328
					BMW S70 6.1 L V12
7	LMP1	5	Template:Flagicon La Filière	Template:Flagicon Henri Pescarolo Template:Flagicon Franck Lagorce Template:Flagicon Emmanuel Collard	Courage C36	M	327
					Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
8	LMGT1	39	Template:Flagicon Team Bigazzi SRL	Template:Flagicon Nelson Piquet Template:Flagicon Johnny Cecotto Template:Flagicon Danny Sullivan	McLaren F1 GTR	M	324
					BMW S70 6.1 L V12
9	LMGT1	33	Template:Flagicon Gulf Racing	Template:Flagicon Ray Bellm Template:Flagicon James Weaver Template:Flagicon JJ Lehto	McLaren F1 GTR	M	323
					BMW S70 6.1 L V12
10	LMGT1	48	Template:Flagicon Canaska Southwind Motorsport	Template:Flagicon Price Cobb Template:Flagicon Shawn Hendricks Template:Flagicon Mark Dismore	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	M	320
					Chrysler 356-T6 8.0 L V10
11	LMGT1	38	Template:Flagicon Team Bigazzi SRL	Template:Flagicon Jacques Laffite Template:Flagicon Steve Soper Template:Flagicon Marc Duez	McLaren F1 GTR	M	318
					BMW S70 6.1 L V12
12	LMGT2	79	Template:Flagicon Roock Racing Team	Template:Flagicon Guy Martinolle Template:Flagicon Ralf Kelleners Template:Flagicon Bruno Eichmann	Porsche 911 GT2	M	317
					Porsche 3.6 L Turbo Flat-6
13	LMP1	4	Template:Flagicon Courage Compétition	Template:Flagicon Mario Andretti Template:Flagicon Jan Lammers Template:Flagicon Derek Warwick	Courage C36	M	315
					Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
14	LMGT2	71	Template:Flagicon New Hardware Racing/Parr Motorsport	Template:Flagicon Bill Farmer Template:Flagicon Greg Murphy Template:Flagicon Robert Nearn	Porsche 911 GT2	P	313
					Porsche 3.6 L Turbo Flat-6
15	LMGT1	23	Template:Flagicon Nismo	Template:Flagicon Kazuyoshi Hoshino Template:Flagicon Masahiro Hasemi Template:Flagicon Toshio Suzuki	Nismo Skyline GT-R LM	B	307
					Nissan 2.8 L Turbo I6
16	LMGT2	75	Template:Flagicon Team Kunimitsu	Template:Flagicon Kunimitsu Takahashi Template:Flagicon Keiichi Tsuchiya Template:Flagicon Akira Iida	Honda NSX	Y	305
					Honda 3.0 L V6
17	LMGT2	83	Template:Flagicon New Hardware Racing/Parr Motorsport	Template:Flagicon Stéphane Ortelli Template:Flagicon Andy Pilgrim Template:Flagicon Andrew Bagnall	Porsche 911 GT2	P	299
					Porsche 3.6 L Turbo Flat-6
18	LMGT2	77	Template:Flagicon Seikel Motorsport	Template:Flagicon Guy Fuster Template:Flagicon Manfred Jurasz Template:Flagicon Takaji Suzuki	Porsche 911 GT2	P	297
					Porsche 3.6 L Turbo Flat-6
19	LMGT1	28	Template:Flagicon Newcastle United Lister	Template:Flagicon Geoff Lees Template:Flagicon Tiff Needell Template:Flagicon Anthony Reid	Lister Storm GTS	M	295
					Jaguar 7.0 L V12
20	LMGT2	82	Template:Flagicon Société Larbre Compétition	Template:Flagicon Patrice Goueslard Template:Flagicon André Ahrlé Template:Flagicon Patrick Bourdais	Porsche 911 GT2	M	284
					Porsche 3.6 L Turbo Flat-6
21	LMGT1	50	Template:Flagicon Société Viper Team Oreca	Template:Flagicon Philippe Gache Template:Flagicon Éric Hélary Template:Flagicon Olivier Beretta	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	M	283
					Chrysler 356-T6 8.0 L V10
22	LMGT1	27	Template:Flagicon Société Chéreau Sports	Template:Flagicon Jean-Luc Chéreau Template:Flagicon Pierre Yver Template:Flagicon Jack Leconte	Porsche 911 GT2 Evo	M	279
					Porsche 3.6 L Turbo Flat-6
23	LMGT1	49	Template:Flagicon Canaska Southwind Motorsport	Template:Flagicon Alain Cudini Template:Flagicon Victor Sifton Template:Flagicon John Morton	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	M	269
					Chrysler 356-T6 8.0 L V10
24	LMGT1	46	Template:Flagicon Team Menicon SARD	Template:Flagicon Alain Ferté Template:Flagicon Mauro Martini Template:Flagicon Pascal Fabre	SARD MC8-R	D	256
					Toyota 4.0 L Turbo V8
25	LMP2	20	Template:Flagicon Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.	Template:Flagicon Yojiro Terada Template:Flagicon Jim Downing Template:Flagicon Franck Fréon	Kudzu DLM	G	251
					Mazda R20B 2.0 L 3-Rotor
DNF	LMP1	8	Template:Flagicon Joest Racing	Template:Flagicon Michele Alboreto Template:Flagicon Pierluigi Martini Template:Flagicon Didier Theys	TWR Porsche WSC-95	G	300
					Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
DNF	LMP2	14	Template:Flagicon Welter Racing SARL	Template:Flagicon Patrick Gonin Template:Flagicon Pierre Petit Template:Flagicon Marc Rostan	WR LM96	M	221
					Peugeot 2.0 L Turbo I4
DNF	LMP1	3	Template:Flagicon Courage Compétition	Template:Flagicon Didier Cottaz Template:Flagicon Philippe Alliot Template:Flagicon Jérôme Policand	Courage C36	M	215
					Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
DNF	LMGT1	22	Template:Flagicon Nismo	Template:Flagicon Aguri Suzuki Template:Flagicon Masahiko Kageyama Template:Flagicon Masahiko Kondo	Nismo Skyline GT-R LM	B	209
					Nissan 2.8 L Turbo I6
DNF	WSC	17	Template:Flagicon Racing For Belgium Team Scandia	Template:Flagicon Eric van de Poele Template:Flagicon Marc Goossens Template:Flagicon Éric Bachelart	Ferrari 333 SP	P	208
					Ferrari F310E 4.0 L V12
DNF	LMGT1	57	Template:Flagicon Toyota Team SARD	Template:Flagicon Masanori Sekiya Template:Flagicon Hidetoshi Mitsusada Template:Flagicon Masami Kageyama	Toyota Supra LM	D	205
					Toyota 3S-GTE 2.1 L Turbo I4
DNF	LMP2	15	Template:Flagicon Welter Racing SARL	Template:Flagicon William David Template:Flagicon Sébastien Enjolras Template:Flagicon Arnaud Trévisiol	WR LM96	M	162
					Peugeot 2.0 L Turbo I4
DNF	WSC	19	Template:Flagicon Riley & Scott Cars Inc.	Template:Flagicon Wayne Taylor Template:Flagicon Scott Sharp Template:Flagicon Jim Pace	Riley & Scott Mk III	P	157
					Oldsmobile Aurora 4.0 L V8
DNF	LMGT1	53	Template:Flagicon Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing	Template:Flagicon Fabien Giroix Template:Flagicon Jean-Denis Délétraz Template:Flagicon Maurizio Sandro Sala	McLaren F1 GTR	M	146
					BMW S70 6.1 L V12
DNF	LMGT1	59	Template:Flagicon Ennea SRL	Template:Flagicon Robin Donovan Template:Flagicon Piero Nappi Template:Flagicon Tetsuya Ota	Ferrari F40 GTE	P	129
					Ferrari F120B 3.5 L Turbo V8
DNF	LMGT2	74	Template:Flagicon Agusta Racing Team	Template:Flagicon Rocky Agusta Template:Flagicon Almo Copelli Template:Flagicon Patrick Camus	Callaway Corvette LM600	D	114
					Chevrolet LT1 6.2 L V8
DNF	LMP1	1	Template:Flagicon Kremer Racing	Template:Flagicon Christophe Bouchut Template:Flagicon Jürgen Lässig Template:Flagicon Harri Toivonen	Kremer K8 Spyder	G	110
					Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
DNF	LMGT1	37	Template:Flagicon Konrad Motorsport	Template:Flagicon Franz Konrad Template:Flagicon Antonio Herrmann Template:Flagicon Wido Rössler	Porsche 911 GT2 Evo	M	107
					Porsche 3.6 L Turbo Flat-6
DNF	LMGT1	44	Template:Flagicon Ennea SRL Igol	Template:Flagicon Luciano Della Noce Template:Flagicon Anders Olofsson Template:Flagicon Carl Rosenblad	Ferrari F40 GTE	P	98
					Ferrari F120B 3.5 L Turbo V8
DNF	LMGT1	51	Template:Flagicon Société Viper Team Oreca	Template:Flagicon Dominique Dupuy Template:Flagicon Perry McCarthy Template:Flagicon Justin Bell	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	M	96
					Chrysler 356-T6 8.0 L V10
DNF	LMGT1	55	Template:Flagicon Roock Racing Team	Template:Flagicon Jean-Pierre Jarier Template:Flagicon Jesús Pareja Template:Flagicon Dominic Chappell	Porsche 911 GT2 Evo	M	93
					Porsche 3.6 L Turbo Flat-6
DNF	LMGT1	56	Template:Flagicon Pilot Racing	Template:Flagicon Michel Ferté Template:Flagicon Olivier Thévenin Template:Flagicon Nicolas Leboissetier	Ferrari F40 LM	M	93
					Ferrari F120B 3.5 L Turbo V8
DNF	LMP1	2	Template:Flagicon Kremer Racing	Template:Flagicon Steve Fossett Template:Flagicon George Fouché Template:Flagicon Stanley Dickens	Kremer K8 Spyder	G	58
					Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
DNF	LMGT2	73	Template:Flagicon Elf Haberthur Racing	Template:Flagicon Michel Neugarten Template:Flagicon Toni Seiler Template:Flagicon Bruno Ilien	Porsche 911 GT2	D	46
					Porsche 3.6 L Turbo Flat-6
DNF	LMGT2	81	Template:Flagicon Team Marcos	Template:Flagicon Cor Euser Template:Flagicon Thomas Erdos Template:Flagicon Pascal Dro	Marcos LM600	D	40
					Chevrolet 6.1 L V8
DNF	LMGT1	45	Template:Flagicon Ennea SRL Igol	Template:Flagicon Jean-Marc Gounon Template:Flagicon Éric Bernard Template:Flagicon Paul Belmondo	Ferrari F40 GTE	P	40
					Ferrari F120B 3.5 L Turbo V8
DNF	LMGT2	70	Template:Flagicon Steve O'Rourke	Template:Flagicon Steve O'Rourke Template:Flagicon Guy Holmes Template:Flagicon Soames Langston	Porsche 911 GT2	D	32
					Porsche 3.6 L Turbo Flat-6
DNF	WSC	18	Template:Flagicon Rocketsports Inc.	Template:Flagicon Andy Evans Template:Flagicon Yvan Muller Template:Flagicon Fermín Vélez	Ferrari 333 SP	P	31
					Ferrari F130E 4.0 L V12

Statistics

• Pole Position - Pierluigi Martini, #8 Joest Racing - 3:46.682
• Fastest Lap - Eric van de Poele, #17 Racing For Belgium / Team Scandia - 3:46.958
• Distance - 4814.4 km
• Average Speed - 200.6 km/h
• Highest Trap Speed — Courage C36 - 332 km/h (race)
• Attendance - 168000

References

• Spurring, Quentin (2014) Le Mans 1990-99 Sherborne, Dorset: Evro Publishing Template:ISBN
• Laban, Brian (2001) Le Mans 24 Hours London: Virgin Books Template:ISBN

External links

• Racing Sports Cars – Le Mans 24 Hours 1996 entries, results, technical detail, photo gallery. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
• Le Mans History – Le Mans History, hour-by-hour (incl. pictures, YouTube links). Retrieved 10 July 2016.
• Le Mans 1996 results & reserve entries, formula2.se
• Motorsport Magazine – Motorsport Magazine archive. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
• You-Tube – 40-minute review of the 1996 race. Retrieved 10 July 2016.