1996 International Touring Car Championship

1996 International Touring Car Championship

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Support series:
German Formula Three

The 1996 International Touring Car Championship was the thirteenth season of premier German touring car championship and also only first and final season under the moniker of International Touring Car Championship. It was for FIA Class 1 Touring Cars and it was contested by Mercedes-Benz, Alfa Romeo and Opel. It was formed of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft series that ran both a short German & International-based series in 1995. These were fused together to form the International Touring Car Championship (abbreviated to ITC). The eventual champion was Manuel Reuter driving an Opel Calibra, and Opel won the manufacturer's championship.

Season summary

File:Alfa 155 DTM.jpg

Alfa Romeo 155 V6 TI of Nicola Larini

The Class 1 rules made sure that all cars had a pure-bred 2,5 L V6 racing engine, lots of electronics, and few things in common with the road cars, except Mercedes sticking to the standard RWD layout while the other two implemented AWD drivetrains. All three manufacturers were relatively equally-matched and competitive all season, with Opel's other winning drivers besides Reuter being the experienced Hans-Joachim Stuck, who took a double victory in Helsinki, and 1994 champion Klaus Ludwig who repeated the feat at Norisring. Alfa Romeo came second to Opel in the standings, with former Benetton Formula One driver Alessandro Nannini taking a convincing seven victories, including four-in-a-row midseason, to place third in the championship. Team-mate and compatriot Nicola Larini could manage just two wins late in a season blighted with retirements, meaning the Ferrari test driver would not be a feature in the title battle.

Mercedes-Benz may have finished third and last in the constructors standings, but were every bit as competitive as their two rivals. Reigning DTM & ITC champion Bernd Schneider racked up four wins, including a double at Diepholz, en route to second in the championship, though 1995's DTM runner-up Jörg van Ommen scored a solitary win in a lacklustre campaign. Their junior team-mates – future Stewart driver Jan Magnussen and IndyCar Series star to-be Dario Franchitti – also scored a win apiece in the first and last rounds of the series respectively. This meant the Scot placed a creditable fourth in the standings, whilst the Dane's mid-season defection to CART along with a number of retirements served to prevent him from challenging for the title. Others who impressed but failed to win a race included sometime Benetton and Sauber driver JJ Lehto for Opel, young Italian Giancarlo Fisichella, who combined an assured sophomore tin-top season for Alfa Romeo with a part-season for the Minardi F1 team, and former Porsche Supercup champion Uwe Alzen who completed the championship top ten by finishing in eighth for Opel.

Looking further down the field, ex-Tyrrell and Jordan F1 driver Stefano Modena endured an average season with Alfa Romeo, whilst fellow Alfa Romeo driver and former BTCC champion Gabriele Tarquini suffered from appalling luck which severely hampered his title tilt despite taking a convincing victory at Silverstone. Christian Danner also disappointed for Alfa Romeo, whilst the respective team-mates of Reuter and Schneider – Le Mans winner Yannick Dalmas and former DTM champion Kurt Thiim – curiously also had torrid seasons. The latter was replaced at the end of the season, along with future F1 driver Alexander Wurz and Jason Watt, as all three manufacturers elected to enter a local driver each during the last two events at Interlagos and Suzuka. Among these, German F3 regular Max Wilson was the most impressive, the Brazilian finishing second on home turf at Interlagos.

In the end, it was consistency that gifted Reuter the title – he scored points during the first fifteen races of the season, and only failed to do so six times all season. In comparison, Schneider failed to score nine times and Nannini twelve, despite both taking more wins with four and seven respectively as opposed to Reuter's three.

Despite boasting a tremendously strong driver line-up, consisting largely of former F1 drivers, ostensibly robust manufacturer support, and focus on well-balanced Class 1 rules with fast touring cars powered by high revving engines, the series suffered from poor media exposure and television coverage. In Germany, the success of Michael Schumacher had drawn attention and money towards Formula 1, which along with lacklustre spectator attendance figures meant there was comparatively little money coming into the series in comparison to the huge cost of running a 'Class 1' touring car. The series had moved away from popular German race tracks, like the Nürburgring Nordschleife, to venues abroad. This was exacerbated by two long intercontinental journeys to Interlagos and Suzuka, circuits located in countries where some of the competing road car models weren't actually sold. This meant that Alfa Romeo and Opel announced in September they would pull out at the end of the series, despite having hitherto committed themselves to compete until the end of 1997, and driven up costs with the use of 4x4. With Mercedes-Benz the only manufacturer remaining committed for 1997, the series was cancelled. AMG-Mercedes quickly shifted to the new FIA GT series and developed the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR in only 128 days, winning the series in 1997 and 1998 and effectively killing it with dominance. It wouldn't be until 2000 that a high powered touring car championship was resurrected, albeit as the new DTM which was based firmly in Germany, using V8 powered race cars under bodyshells that looked like roadgoing 2-door coupes.

Teams and drivers

Manufacturer	Car	Team	No.	Drivers	Rounds
Mercedes-Benz	Mercedes-Benz C-Class	Template:Flagicon D2 Mercedes-AMG	1	Template:Flagicon Bernd Schneider	All
			2	Template:Flagicon Dario Franchitti	All
		Template:Flagicon Warsteiner Mercedes-AMG	3	Template:Flagicon Jan Magnussen	1–6, 9–13
				Template:Flagicon Juan Pablo Montoya	7
				Template:Flagicon Ricardo Zonta	8
			4	Template:Flagicon Alexander Grau	1–6
				Template:Flagicon Bernd Mayländer	7–13
		Template:Flagicon UPS Mercedes-AMG	11	Template:Flagicon Jörg van Ommen	All
			12	Template:Flagicon Kurt Thiim	1–11
				Template:Flagicon Christian Fittipaldi	12
				Template:Flagicon Aguri Suzuki	13
		Template:Flagicon Persson Motorsport	21	Template:Flagicon Ellen Lohr	1–8
				Template:Flagicon Alexander Grau	9–13
			22	Template:Flagicon Bernd Mayländer	1–6
				Template:Flagicon Alexander Grau	7–8
				Template:Flagicon Ellen Lohr	9–13
			37	Template:Flagicon Ratanakul Prutirat	6
Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 155 V6 TI	Template:Flagicon Martini Alfa Corse	5	Template:Flagicon Nicola Larini	All
			6	Template:Flagicon Alessandro Nannini	All
		Template:Flagicon JAS Motorsport Alfa Romeo	9	Template:Flagicon Stefano Modena	All
			18	Template:Flagicon Gabriele Tarquini	All
		Template:Flagicon Jägermeister JAS Motorsport Alfa Romeo	10	Template:Flagicon Michael Bartels	All
		Template:Flagicon Bosch JAS Motorsport Alfa Romeo	19	Template:Flagicon Jason Watt	1–11
				Template:Flagicon Max Wilson	12
				Template:Flagicon Naoki Hattori	13
		Template:Flagicon Giudici Motorsport	13	Template:Flagicon Gianni Giudici	1–8, 10-11
		Template:Flagicon TV Spielfilm Alfa Corse	14	Template:Flagicon Giancarlo Fisichella	All
			15	Template:Flagicon Christian Danner	All
Opel	Template:Ill	Template:Flagicon Joest Racing Opel	7	Template:Flagicon Manuel Reuter	All
			8	Template:Flagicon Oliver Gavin	1–10, 12–13
				Template:Flagicon Masanori Sekiya	11
			23	Template:Flagicon Volker Strycek	8
			24	Template:Flagicon Yannick Dalmas	All
			25	Template:Flagicon Alexander Wurz	1–11
				Template:Flagicon Tony Kanaan	12
				Template:Flagicon Masanori Sekiya	13
		Template:Flagicon Zakspeed Team Opel	16	Template:Flagicon Uwe Alzen	All
			17	Template:Flagicon Klaus Ludwig	1–9, 11–13
				Template:Flagicon Volker Strycek	10
		Template:Flagicon Team Rosberg Opel	43	Template:Flagicon JJ Lehto	All
			44	Template:Flagicon Hans-Joachim Stuck	All
		Template:Flagicon Giudici Motorsport	13	Template:Flagicon Gianni Giudici	6–8, 10–11

Schedule and results

Round		Country	Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Driver	Winning Team	Report
1	R1	Template:Flagicon Germany	Hockenheimring (Short Circuit)	14 April	Template:Flagicon Nicola Larini	Template:Flagicon Alessandro Nannini	Template:Flagicon Manuel Reuter	Joest Racing Opel	Report
	R2					Template:Flagicon Jan Magnussen	Template:Flagicon Jan Magnussen	Warsteiner Mercedes-AMG
2	R1	Template:Flagicon Germany	Nürburgring	12 May	Template:Flagicon Jörg van Ommen	Template:Flagicon Dario Franchitti	Template:Flagicon Jörg van Ommen	UPS Mercedes-AMG	Report
	R2					Template:Flagicon Jörg van Ommen	Template:Flagicon Manuel Reuter	Joest Racing Opel
3	R1	Template:Flagicon Portugal	Autódromo do Estoril	26 May	Template:Flagicon Alessandro Nannini	Template:Flagicon Alessandro Nannini	Template:Flagicon Alessandro Nannini	Martini Alfa Corse	Report
	R2					Template:Flagicon Alessandro Nannini	Template:Flagicon Alessandro Nannini	Martini Alfa Corse
4	R1	Template:Flagicon Finland	Helsinki Thunder	9 June	Template:Flagicon Hans-Joachim Stuck	Template:Flagicon Dario Franchitti	Template:Flagicon Hans-Joachim Stuck	Team Rosberg Opel	Report
	R2					Template:Flagicon Hans-Joachim Stuck	Template:Flagicon Hans-Joachim Stuck	Team Rosberg Opel
5	R1	Template:Flagicon Germany	Norisring	23 June	Template:Flagicon Uwe Alzen	Template:Flagicon Uwe Alzen	Template:Flagicon Klaus Ludwig	Zakspeed Opel	Report
	R2					Template:Flagicon Uwe Alzen	Template:Flagicon Klaus Ludwig	Zakspeed Opel
6	R1	Template:Flagicon Germany	Diepholz Airfield Circuit	7 July	Template:Flagicon Bernd Schneider	Template:Flagicon Bernd Schneider	Template:Flagicon Bernd Schneider	D2 Mercedes-AMG	Report
	R2					Template:Flagicon Alexander Wurz	Template:Flagicon Bernd Schneider	D2 Mercedes-AMG
7	R1	Template:Flagicon Great Britain	Silverstone Circuit	18 August	Template:Flagicon Klaus Ludwig	Template:Flagicon Alessandro Nannini	Template:Flagicon Klaus Ludwig	Zakspeed Opel	Report
	R2					Template:Flagicon Gabriele Tarquini	Template:Flagicon Gabriele Tarquini	JAS Motorsport Alfa Romeo
8	R1	Template:Flagicon Germany	Nürburgring	1 September	Template:Flagicon Alessandro Nannini	Template:Flagicon Alessandro Nannini	Template:Flagicon Alessandro Nannini	Martini Alfa Corse	Report
	R2					Template:Flagicon Alessandro Nannini	Template:Flagicon Alessandro Nannini	Martini Alfa Corse
9	R1	Template:Flagicon France	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours	15 September	Template:Flagicon Nicola Larini	Template:Flagicon Giancarlo Fisichella	Template:Flagicon Alessandro Nannini	Martini Alfa Corse	Report
	R2					Template:Flagicon Giancarlo Fisichella	Template:Flagicon Alessandro Nannini	Martini Alfa Corse
10	R1	Template:Flagicon Italy	Mugello Circuit	29 September	Template:Flagicon Nicola Larini	Template:Flagicon Nicola Larini	Template:Flagicon Nicola Larini	Martini Alfa Corse	Report
	R2					Template:Flagicon Bernd Schneider	Template:Flagicon Bernd Schneider	D2 Mercedes-AMG
11	R1	Template:Flagicon Germany	Hockenheimring (GP Circuit)	13 October	Template:Flagicon Klaus Ludwig	Template:Flagicon Uwe Alzen	Template:Flagicon Klaus Ludwig	Zakspeed Opel	Report
	R2					Template:Flagicon Manuel Reuter	Template:Flagicon Manuel Reuter	Joest Racing Opel
12	R1	Template:Flagicon Brazil	Autódromo José Carlos Pace	27 October	Template:Flagicon Christian Danner	Template:Flagicon Alessandro Nannini	Template:Flagicon Alessandro Nannini	Martini Alfa Corse	Report
	R2					Template:Flagicon Giancarlo Fisichella	Template:Flagicon Nicola Larini	Martini Alfa Corse
13	R1	Template:Flagicon Japan	Suzuka Circuit	10 November	Template:Flagicon Christian Danner	Template:Flagicon Christian Danner	Template:Flagicon Dario Franchitti	D2 Mercedes-AMG	Report
	R2					Template:Flagicon Bernd Schneider	Template:Flagicon Bernd Schneider	D2 Mercedes-AMG

Drivers Championship standings

Pos Driver HOC1 Template:Flagicon NÜR1 Template:Flagicon EST Template:Flagicon HEL Template:Flagicon NOR Template:Flagicon DIE Template:Flagicon SIL Template:Flagicon NÜR2 Template:Flagicon MAG Template:Flagicon MUG Template:Flagicon HOC2 Template:Flagicon INT Template:Flagicon SUZ Template:Flagicon Pts 1 Template:Flagicon Manuel Reuter 1 3 3 1 4 3 2 2 6 5 10 6 6 6 4 16 Ret DNS 18 7 2 1 4 4 13 14 218 2 Template:Flagicon Bernd Schneider 4 2 4 6 11 12 16 Ret 9 6 1 1 16 5 2 2 Ret 8 2 1 14† Ret 5 14 3 1 205 3 Template:Flagicon Alessandro Nannini 10 13 EX EX 1 1 14 4 Ret Ret 6 Ret 17 11 1 1 1 1 11 Ret 6 Ret 1 5 10 5 180 4 Template:Flagicon Dario Franchitti 3 4 2 8 9 10 17† DNS 5 Ret 2 2 21† 14 3 3 6 4 4 2 Ret 7 13 10 1 Ret 171 5 Template:Flagicon JJ Lehto 15 Ret 5 2 16 Ret 5 3 4 3 7 Ret 5 2 7 5 5 3 9 15† 5 8 6 9 Ret 8 148 6 Template:Flagicon Giancarlo Fisichella 7 10 EX EX 2 5 12 5 11 Ret 3 Ret Ret 9 5 4 3 2 3 13 12 5 12 16 4 2 139 7 Template:Flagicon Klaus Ludwig Ret DNS Ret Ret 3 11 3 Ret 1 1 Ret Ret 1 Ret Ret 11 9 5 1 2 Ret Ret Ret 10 130 8 Template:Flagicon Uwe Alzen 8 6 18 4 5 2 13 Ret 2 2 11 10 13 Ret 12 6 4 13 7 3 3 Ret Ret DNS 9 12 119 9 Template:Flagicon Hans-Joachim Stuck 5 7 6 14† Ret 7 1 1 7 4 5 4 12 15 22† 12 7 Ret 5 16† 17† 9 7 Ret 18 18† 112 10 Template:Flagicon Jan Magnussen 2 1 7 3 Ret Ret Ret DNS 17† DNS 16 Ret Ret Ret Ret 5 Ret 4 14 3 7 3 97 11 Template:Flagicon Nicola Larini 11 12 Ret 7 Ret Ret Ret 6 Ret Ret Ret DNS 3 Ret 6 15 2 Ret 1 Ret Ret Ret Ret 1 6 6 95 12 Template:Flagicon Stefano Modena Ret DNS 17 Ret DNS 9 7 Ret 3 13 4 3 4 Ret 13 10 13 7 Ret 14 Ret 10 2 8 5 4 92 13 Template:Flagicon Jörg van Ommen Ret 9 1 13† 7 4 9 Ret 8 7 13 5 18 Ret 9 8 8 9 NC 8 8 3 15 6 14 13 87 14 Template:Flagicon Gabriele Tarquini Ret DNS 10 5 Ret 14 Ret DNS Ret DNS 20 DNS 2 1 Ret 17 15† Ret 13 6 4 Ret Ret DNS DNS Ret 60 15 Template:Flagicon Christian Danner 13 Ret 9 10 12 13 8 Ret Ret DNS 15 Ret 10 13 18 20 Ret DNS 12 Ret 7 6 3 Ret 2 7 48 16 Template:Flagicon Alexander Wurz Ret Ret 12 DSQ 10 8 Ret 9 12 8 9 8 7 4 Ret DNS 10 6 6 9 Ret DNS 43 17 Template:Flagicon Yannick Dalmas Ret 11 Ret DNS 8 Ret 6 Ret Ret DNS 12 7 9 7 8 7 Ret DNS 10 10 18† Ret 8 11 12 9 33 18 Template:Flagicon Kurt Thiim 12 8 8 12† DNS DNS 18† Ret Ret Ret 14 11 Ret 10 10 Ret 11 10 8 4 10 Ret 23 19 Template:Flagicon Max Wilson 9 2 17 20 Template:Flagicon Jason Watt Ret Ret 13 9 15 DNS DNS DNS 15† DNS 22 12 8 3 14 Ret Ret 12 14 Ret Ret Ret 17 21 Template:Flagicon Michael Bartels 14 14 11 Ret 18 Ret 4 Ret Ret DNS 8 Ret DSQ 8 15 14 Ret DNS 20 DNS 13 Ret Ret 17 15 17† 16 22 Template:Flagicon Alexander Grau 6 5 Ret DNS 13 DNS Ret 10 13 10 18 Ret 15 Ret 17 18 14 11 15 11 Ret 12 17 12 17 15 16 23 Template:Flagicon Oliver Gavin Ret DNS 14 Ret 6 6 10† Ret 10 12 17 9 11 Ret 16 Ret 12 15 17 Ret 11 15 16 11 16 24 Template:Flagicon Bernd Mayländer Ret Ret 16 Ret 14 Ret 11 7 16† 11 19 14 14 Ret 11 9 Ret DNS Ret Ret 9 Ret 16 7 8 Ret 15 25 Template:Flagicon Ellen Lohr 9 Ret 15 11 Ret Ret 15 8 14 9 21 13 20 12 20 21 Ret 14 16 12 11 11 18† 13 21 Ret 7 26 Template:Flagicon Christian Fittipaldi 10 Ret 1 27 Template:Flagicon Aguri Suzuki 11 DNS 0 28 Template:Flagicon Masanori Sekiya 15 13 20 DNS 0 29 Template:Flagicon Ricardo Zonta Ret 13 0 30 Template:Flagicon Gianni Giudici Ret 15 Ret DNS 17 15 19 NC Ret 14 Ret Ret 19 Ret 21 22 Ret Ret 16 Ret 0 31 Template:Flagicon Naoki Hattori 19 16 0 32 Template:Flagicon Volker Strycek 19 19 19 Ret 0 Template:Flagicon Juan Pablo Montoya Ret Ret 0 Template:Flagicon Tony Kanaan Ret Ret 0 Template:Flagicon Ratanakul Prutirat DNQ DNQ 0 Pos Driver HOC1 Template:Flagicon NÜR Template:Flagicon EST Template:Flagicon HEL Template:Flagicon NOR Template:Flagicon DIE Template:Flagicon SIL Template:Flagicon NÜR Template:Flagicon MAG Template:Flagicon MUG Template:Flagicon HOC2 Template:Flagicon INT Template:Flagicon SUZ Template:Flagicon Pts

Colour Result Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Template:Msrslt Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

† Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

Note: bold signifies pole position, italics signifies fastest lap. Grid order for race 2 was decided by the finishing order in race 1.

Notes

• Points System: 20–15–12–10–8–6–4–3–2–1 for the Top 10 drivers in each race. No extra points awarded.

Manufacturers Championship Standings

Final placings in the 1996 FIA Touring Car International Championship for Manufacturers were:

Pos	Manufacturer	HOC 1 Template:Flagicon	HOC 2 Template:Flagicon	NÜR 1 Template:Flagicon	NÜR 2 Template:Flagicon	EST 1 Template:Flagicon	EST 2 Template:Flagicon	HEL 1 Template:Flagicon	HEL 2 Template:Flagicon	NOR 1 Template:Flagicon	NOR 2 Template:Flagicon	DIE 1 Template:Flagicon	DIE 2 Template:Flagicon	SIL 1 Template:Flagicon	SIL 2 Template:Flagicon	NUR 1 Template:Flagicon	NUR 2 Template:Flagicon	MAG 1 Template:Flagicon	MAG 2 Template:Flagicon	MUG 1 Template:Flagicon	MUG 2 Template:Flagicon	HOC 1 Template:Flagicon	HOC 2 Template:Flagicon	INT 1 Template:Flagicon	INT 2 Template:Flagicon	SUZ 1 Template:Flagicon	SUZ 2 Template:Flagicon	Pts
1	Opel	1	3	3	1	3	2	1	1	1	1	5	4	1	2	4	5	4	3	5	3	1	1	4	4	9	8	349
2	Alfa Romeo	7	10	9	5	1	1	4	4	3	13	3	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	6	4	5	1	1	2	2	340
3	Mercedes-Benz	2	1	1	3	7	4	9	7	5	6	1	1	14	5	2	2	6	4	2	1	8	3	5	3	1	1	305
Pos	Manufacturer	HOC 1 Template:Flagicon	HOC 2 Template:Flagicon	NÜR 1 Template:Flagicon	NÜR 2 Template:Flagicon	EST 1 Template:Flagicon	EST 2 Template:Flagicon	HEL 1 Template:Flagicon	HEL 2 Template:Flagicon	NOR 1 Template:Flagicon	NOR 2 Template:Flagicon	DIE 1 Template:Flagicon	DIE 2 Template:Flagicon	SIL 1 Template:Flagicon	SIL 2 Template:Flagicon	NUR 1 Template:Flagicon	NUR 2 Template:Flagicon	MAG 1 Template:Flagicon	MAG 2 Template:Flagicon	MUG 1 Template:Flagicon	MUG 2 Template:Flagicon	HOC 1 Template:Flagicon	HOC 2 Template:Flagicon	INT 1 Template:Flagicon	INT 2 Template:Flagicon	SUZ 1 Template:Flagicon	SUZ 2 Template:Flagicon	Pts

External links

• 1996 International Touring Car Championship standings from motorsport.com