The 1996 Italian Superturismo Championship was the tenth edition of the Italian Superturismo Championship. The season began in Mugello on 14 April and finished in Vallelunga on 6 October, after ten rounds.
Season summary
The season started with an unexpected double victory of Giovanardi in a semi-official Alfa Romeo. In the following 3 rounds, due to slow tracks and bad weather condition in Monza, Capello and his Audi were able to score 6 wins in a row.
In order to avoid a strong dominance like in 1995, it was decided from the 4th round in Binetto to penalise Audi with 30kg extra bringing the weight from 1040kg to 1070kg. Thanks to this decision and together with the car developments, BMW emerged as dominant car winning 11 races (6 Cecotto and 5 Naspetti) on 12 until the end of the season. Only in race 1 in Imola, Capello was able thanks to his talent to achieve a victory with his heavier Audi.
In the last round in Vallelunga, BMW decided to add 3 more cars for Ravaglia, Winkelhock and Soper while Audi (finally come back to the original weight at 1040kg) added 2 more cars for the new German champion Pirro and his team mate Peter but although a starting grid nearly close to the FIA World Touring Car Cup, none of those drivers was able to help the 3 contended. BMW scored once again a double victory with Cecotto, but Capello thanks to a second and a third place was able to win the title. Naspetti after a race 1 finished only 6th due to a wrong tyre choice, tried his best to catch up Capello in race 2 but after a collision with Muller (Audi), he was penalized with a stop and go giving automatically the title to Capello.
Rinaldo Capello was the new Italian champion after the 2 titles in a row of Pirro, while BMW thanks to the 11 victories against 7 of Audi and 2 of Alfa Romeo was the constructors' champion.
Roberto Colciago was instead the privateers' champion with his Alfa Romeo.
Teams and drivers Team Car Drivers Rounds Class Audi Sport Italia Audi A4 Quattro 1 Rinaldo Capello All 2 Yvan Muller All Nordauto Engineering Alfa Romeo 155 TS 3 Fabrizio Giovanardi All 4 Gordon de Adamich 2-10 CiBiEmme Engineering BMW 320i 5 Johnny Cecotto All 6 Emanuele Naspetti 1-8, 10 BMW 318iS 7 Yolanda Surer 1-6 BMW 320i Gianni Morbidelli 7-8, 10 Audi Sport Italia Audi A4 Quattro 8 Frank Biela 9 A.Z.K./ROC Audi A4 Quattro 9 Philipp Peter 10 11 Emanuele Pirro 10 Scuderia Bigazzi BMW 320i 12 Roberto Ravaglia 10 14 Steve Soper 10 15 Joachim Winkelhock 10 Motortrend Peugeot 405 51 Massimiliano Pezzuto 1-6, 9 P 52 Giambattista Busi 1, 5-6 P 53 Raffaele Fortunato 1-6, 8 P 54 Luigi Moccia 1 P Alessandro Belloni 3 P Giampaolo Vicarelli 4 P Gianluca de Lorenzi 5 P Marco Antonelli 9 P Massimiliano Blancardi 10 P Soli Racing Team Alfa Romeo 155 TS 55 Moreno Soli All P 58 Massimo Pigoli 6, 8-10 P Felipe Ortiz 6, 8-9 P EC Motorsport Alfa Romeo 155 TS 56 Roberto Colciago 1-6, 9-10 P Tecnica Racing Team Alfa Romeo 155 TS 57 Felice Tedeschi 3-10 P 58 Massimo Pigoli 1-5 P 59 Alessandro Gabrielli 1-3 P CiBiEmme Engineering BMW 320i 60 Emanuele Naspetti 9 Capannelle Racing Opel Vectra 61 Sergio Sambataro 1-3, 5-6, 9-10 P 62 Fabrizio Fede 10 P Varese Corse Alfa Romeo 155 TS 63 Davide Bernasconi 1-6, 8-10 P Augusto Rossetti 5, 9 P Ciemme Corse Opel Vectra 64 Marco Brand 1-3 P Varese Corse Alfa Romeo 155 TS 65 Tarcisio Bernasconi 10 P Augusto Rossetti P Tecnica Racing Team Alfa Romeo 155 TS 66 Gianluca Sansoni 6-10 P Falessi Racing Alfa Romeo 155 TS 67 Lorenzo Falessi 5-6, 9-10 P Bychl Euroracing BMW 318i 68 Miloš Tesar 5 P Erre Team BMW 318i 69 Maurizio Lusuardi 3, 5-6, 8-10 P Stefano Gabellini 3, 5-6, 8 P Giampiero Pindari 9 P CiBiEmme Engineering BMW 320i 70 Gianni Morbidelli 9 Optima Modica Beograd Alfa Romeo 155 TS 82 Milovan Vesnić 10 P Engstler Motorsport Alfa Romeo 155 TS 83 Marco Bromberger 10 P 84 Franz Engstler 10 P Icon Class P Private Drivers
Drivers changes Changed Cars Roberto Colciago: Opel Vectra → Alfa Romeo 155
Entering Superturismo 1996 Yvan Muller: French Supertouring → Audi A4 Quattro Johnny Cecotto: BTCC → BMW 320i Gordon De Adamich: CIVT → Alfa Romeo 155
Leaving Superturismo 1996 Emanuele Pirro: → STW Antonio Tamburini: No full-time drive Gabriele Tarquini: → DTM/ITC Oscar Larrauri: → Japanese GT
Race calendar and results Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team 1 R1 Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello 14 April Emanuele Naspetti Rinaldo Capello Fabrizio Giovanardi Nordauto Engineering R2 Fabrizio Giovanardi Fabrizio Giovanardi Nordauto Engineering 2 R1 Autodromo di Magione 21 April Yvan Muller Yvan Muller Rinaldo Capello Audi Sport Italia R2 Yvan Muller Rinaldo Capello Audi Sport Italia 3 R1 Autodromo Nazionale Monza 12 May Johnny Cecotto Fabrizio Giovanardi Rinaldo Capello Audi Sport Italia R2 Johnny Cecotto Rinaldo Capello Audi Sport Italia 4 R1 Autodromo del Levante 26 May Rinaldo Capello Yvan Muller Rinaldo Capello Audi Sport Italia R2 Emanuele Naspetti Rinaldo Capello Audi Sport Italia 5 R1 Circuito Internazionale Misano 7 July Johnny Cecotto Emanuele Naspetti Johnny Cecotto CiBiEmme Engineering R2 Johnny Cecotto Johnny Cecotto CiBiEmme Engineering 6 R1 Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari 21 July Johnny Cecotto Emanuele Naspetti Rinaldo Capello Audi Sport Italia R2 Johnny Cecotto Emanuele Naspetti CiBiEmme Engineering 7 R1 Autodromo di Pergusa 4 August Emanuele Naspetti Fabrizio Giovanardi Emanuele Naspetti CiBiEmme Engineering R2 Fabrizio Giovanardi Emanuele Naspetti CiBiEmme Engineering 8 R1 Autodromo di Pergusa 1 September Fabrizio Giovanardi Johnny Cecotto Emanuele Naspetti CiBiEmme Engineering R2 Emanuele Naspetti Emanuele Naspetti CiBiEmme Engineering 9 R1 Autodromo Riccardo Paletti di Varano 15 September Johnny Cecotto Johnny Cecotto Johnny Cecotto CiBiEmme Engineering R2 Johnny Cecotto Emanuele Naspetti CiBiEmme Engineering 10 R1 ACI Vallelunga Circuit 6 October Roberto Ravaglia Steve Soper Johnny Cecotto CiBiEmme Engineering R2 Joachim Winkelhock Johnny Cecotto CiBiEmme Engineering
Round 1 Mugello Qualifying Pos No Driver Car Lap Time Top Qualifying 1 6 Emanuele Naspetti BMW 320i 1.57.663 TQ Group 1 2 1 Rinaldo Capello Audi A4 Quattro 1.57.808 TQ Group 1 3 5 Johnny Cecotto BMW 320i 1.57.873 TQ Group 1 4 3 Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 155 1.57.992 TQ Group 1 5 2 Yvan Muller Audi A4 Quattro 1.58.198 TQ Group 1 6 56 Roberto Colciago Alfa Romeo 155 1.59.409 TQ Group 1 7 64 Marco Brand Opel Vectra GT 2.01.399 TQ Group 1 8 58 Massimo Pigoli Alfa Romeo 155 2.01.691 TQ Group 1 9 52 Gianbattista Busi Peugeot 405 2.01.534 TQ Group 2 10 51 Massimiliano Pezzuto Peugeot 405 2.05.145 TQ Group 2 11 63 Davide Bernasconi Alfa Romeo 155 2.02.940 12 7 Yolanda Surer BMW 318iS 2.03.345 13 53 Raffaele Fortunato Peugeot 405 2.03.522 14 55 Moreno Soli Alfa Romeo 155 2.03.756 15 61 Sergio Sambataro Opel Vectra GT 2.05.069 16 59 Alessandro Gabrielli Alfa Romeo 155 2.05.509 17 54 Luigi Moccia Peugeot 405 2.08.271
Race 1 Pos No Driver Constructor Time/Retired Points 1 3 Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 155 15 laps in 30:20.11220 2 5 Johnny Cecotto BMW 320i +0.828s15 3 6 Emanuele Naspetti BMW 320i +1.811s12 4 2 Yvan Muller Audi A4 Quattro +2.456s10 5 1 Rinaldo Capello Audi A4 Quattro +6.754s8 6 56 Roberto Colciago Alfa Romeo 155 +25.748s6 7 58 Massimo Pigoli Alfa Romeo 155 +1.11.824s4 8 63 Davide Bernasconi Alfa Romeo 155 +1.14.113s3 9 52 Gianbattista Busi Peugeot 405 +1.24.072s2 10 51 Massimiliano Pezzuto Peugeot 405 +1.24.311s1 11 55 Moreno Soli Alfa Romeo 155 +1.41.468s 12 53 Raffaele Fortunato Peugeot 405 +1.45.062s 13 54 Luigi Moccia Peugeot 405 +1 lap 14 DNF 7 Yolanda Surer BMW 318iS +6 laps DNF 61 Sergio Sambataro Opel Vectra GT +13 laps DNF 59 Alessandro Gabrielli Alfa Romeo 155 +13 laps DNF 64 Marco Brand Opel Vectra GT +15 laps
Race 2 Pos No Driver Constructor Time/Retired Points 1 3 Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 155 15 laps in 30:12.13420 2 6 Emanuele Naspetti BMW 320i +1.672s15 3 5 Johnny Cecotto BMW 320i +2.004s12 4 1 Rinaldo Capello Audi A4 Quattro +9.900s10 5 2 Yvan Muller Audi A4 Quattro +10.160s8 6 56 Roberto Colciago Alfa Romeo 155 +30.940s6 7 64 Marco Brand Opel Vectra GT +1.06.495s4 8 63 Davide Bernasconi Alfa Romeo 155 +1.29.243s3 9 51 Massimiliano Pezzuto Peugeot 405 +1.34.124s2 10 55 Moreno Soli Alfa Romeo 155 +1.45.944s1 11 DNF 53 Raffaele Fortunato Peugeot 405 +3 laps 12 DNF 58 Massimo Pigoli Alfa Romeo 155 +7 laps DNS 52 Gianbattista Busi Peugeot 405 DNS 54 Luigi Moccia Peugeot 405 DNS 7 Yolanda Surer BMW 318iS DNS 61 Sergio Sambataro Opel Vectra GT DNS 59 Alessandro Gabrielli Alfa Romeo 155
Championship standings after Round 1
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Fabrizio Giovanardi 40 2 Johnny Cecotto 27 3 Emanuele Naspetti 27 4 Rinaldo Capello 18 5 Yvan Muller 18
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 BMW 54 2 Alfa Romeo 52 3 Audi 36
Round 2 Magione Qualifying Pos No Driver Car Lap Time Top Qualifying 1 2 Yvan Muller Audi A4 Quattro 1.14.266 TQ Group 1 2 1 Rinaldo Capello Audi A4 Quattro 1.14.607 TQ Group 1 3 3 Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 155 1.15.320 TQ Group 1 4 6 Emanuele Naspetti BMW 320i 1.15.404 TQ Group 1 5 5 Johnny Cecotto BMW 320i 1.15.547 TQ Group 1 6 4 Gordon De Adamich Alfa Romeo 155 1.16.514 TQ Group 1 7 56 Roberto Colciago Alfa Romeo 155 1.17.283 TQ Group 1 8 58 Massimo Pigoli Alfa Romeo 155 1.17.501 TQ Group 1 9 7 Yolanda Surer BMW 318iS 1.17.725 TQ Group 1 10 51 Massimiliano Pezzuto Peugeot 405 1.18.365 TQ Group 1 11 64 Marco Brand Opel Vectra GT 1.18.636 TQ Group 2 12 59 Alessandro Gabrielli Alfa Romeo 155 1.19.497 TQ Group 2 13 63 Davide Bernasconi Alfa Romeo 155 1.19.776 TQ Group 2 14 53 Raffaele Fortunato Peugeot 405 1.20.114 TQ Group 2 15 55 Moreno Soli Alfa Romeo 155 1.17.800 16 61 Sergio Sambataro Opel Vectra GT 1.21.093
Race 1 Pos No Driver Constructor Time/Retired Points 1 1 Rinaldo Capello Audi A4 Quattro 32 laps in 41:18.58420 2 2 Yvan Muller Audi A4 Quattro +0.348s15 3 3 Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 155 +20.961s12 4 5 Johnny Cecotto BMW 320i +21.672s10 5 6 Emanuele Naspetti BMW 320i +1.16.735s8 6 56 Roberto Colciago Alfa Romeo 155 +1 lap6 7 4 Gordon De Adamich Alfa Romeo 155 +1 lap4 8 58 Massimo Pigoli Alfa Romeo 155 +1 lap3 9 51 Massimiliano Pezzuto Peugeot 405 +2 laps2 10 55 Moreno Soli Alfa Romeo 155 +2 laps1 11 63 Davide Bernasconi Alfa Romeo 155 +2 laps 12 59 Alessandro Gabrielli Alfa Romeo 155 +3 laps 13 7 Yolanda Surer BMW 318iS +3 laps 14 53 Raffaele Fortunato Peugeot 405 +3 laps DNF 61 Sergio Sambataro Opel Vectra GT +20 laps DNF 64 Marco Brand Opel Vectra GT +20 laps
Race 2 Pos No Driver Constructor Time/Retired Points 1 1 Rinaldo Capello Audi A4 Quattro 32 laps in 41:01.14520 2 2 Yvan Muller Audi A4 Quattro +0.613s15 3 3 Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 155 +12.758s12 4 6 Emanuele Naspetti BMW 320i +48.831s10 5 56 Roberto Colciago Alfa Romeo 155 +1.12.643s8 6 4 Gordon De Adamich Alfa Romeo 155 +1 lap6 7 58 Massimo Pigoli Alfa Romeo 155 +1 lap4 8 55 Moreno Soli Alfa Romeo 155 +1 lap3 9 51 Massimiliano Pezzuto Peugeot 405 +2 laps2 10 7 Yolanda Surer BMW 318iS +2 laps1 11 53 Raffaele Fortunato Peugeot 405 +2 laps 12 59 Alessandro Gabrielli Alfa Romeo 155 +2 laps DNF 61 Sergio Sambataro Opel Vectra GT +17 laps DNF 63 Davide Bernasconi Alfa Romeo 155 +29 laps DNS 64 Marco Brand Opel Vectra GT DNS 5 Johnny Cecotto BMW 320i
Championship standings after Round 2
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Fabrizio Giovanardi 64 2 Rinaldo Capello 58 3 Yvan Muller 48 4 Emanuele Naspetti 45 5 Johnny Cecotto 37
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Audi 106 2 Alfa Romeo 90 3 BMW 83
Round 3 Monza Qualifying