INTERNATIONAL TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP 1996 - ROUND 4 AT HELSINKI

-------------------Top 10 qualifying / Starting grid--------------------
Pos.  Driver                         Team - Car                   Time
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1    Hans-Joachim Stuck/D   Rosberg-Opel Calibra V6 4x4        1:25.544
 2    Klaus Ludwig/D         Zakspeed-Opel Calibra V6 4x4       1:25.709
 3    Michael Bartels/D      Alfa Corse JAS-Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti1:25.820
 4    Uwe Alzen/D            Zakspeed-Opel Calibra V6 4x4       1:25.910
 5    J.J. Lehto/FIN         Rosberg-Opel Calibra V6 4x4        1:25.965
 6    Alessandro Nannini/I   Alfa Corse Martini-Alfa 155 V6 Ti  1:26.669
 7    Nicola Larini/I        Alfa Corse Martini-Alfa 155 V6 Ti  1:26.680
 8    Giancarlo Fisichella/I Alfa Corse TV Spielf.Alfa 155 V6 Ti1:26.829
 9    Bernd Schneider/D      D2 Team AMG-Mercedes C-Class       1:27.010
10    Alexander Wurz/A       Joest-Opel Calibra V6 4x4        0 (engine)

11    Dario Franchitti/GB    D2 Team AMG-Mercedes C-Class ^s.o! 1:25.367
12    Oliver Gavin/GB        Joest-Opel Calibra V6 4x4          1:25.656
13    Stefano Modena/I       Alfa Corse JAS-Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti1:25.908
14    Manuel Reuter/D        Joest-Opel Calibra V6 4x4          1:26.328
15    Gabriele Tarquini/I    Alfa Corse JAS-Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti1:26.451
16    Joerg van Ommen/D      UPS Team AMG-Mercedes C-Class      1:26.629
17    Yannick Dalmas/F       Joest-Opel Calibra V6 4x4          1:26.850
18    Kurt Thiim/DK          UPS Team AMG-Mercedes C-Class      1:27.159
19    Jan Magnussen/DK       Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes C-Class    1:27.319
20    Jason Watt/DK          Alfa Corse JAS-Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti1:27.457
21    Alexander Grau/D       Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes C-Class    1:27.937
22    Bernd Maylander/D      Team Persson AMG-Mercedes C-Class  1:29.215
23    Ellen Lohr/D           Team Persson AMG-Mercedes C-Class  1:30.121
24    Gianni Giudici/I       Giudici Racing-Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti1:32.147
25    Christian Danner/D     Alfa Corse TV Spielf.Alfa 155V6Ti 0(engine)

RACE 1:
        Weather: sunny, 21 deg.C   Spectators: 127,000

Hans-Joachim Stuck won the first heat of the ITC weekend at Helsinki.
The polesitter had a perfect start, and led the race until the finish,
followed by Manuel Reuter* and Klaus Ludwig. Reuter's pursuers in the
championship table,Jan Magnussen and Dario Franchitti were both unlucky:
Magnussen with a break pressure failure hit a wall, Franchitti, started
from 11th position, hit a wall beeing in 2nd place two laps before the
finish. Larini spun off in 15th lap, Tarquini's Alfa caught fire in lap
16.

*Manuel Reuter had a bad crash in Friday's practice and the crews of all
three Opel teams (Joest, Zakspeed and Rosberg) with the help from an
Opel dealer in Helsinki managed to rebuild the car over night!

-----------------------------RESULTS RACE 1-----------------------------
Pos.  Driver                         Team - Car                 Time/Gap
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1    Hans-Joachim Stuck/D   Rosberg-Opel Calibra V6 4x4       47:29.380
 2    Manuel Reuter/D        Joest-Opel Calibra V6 4x4           +24.015
 3    Klaus Ludwig/D         Zakspeed-Opel Calibra V6 4x4         26.594
 4    Michael Bartels/D      Alfa Corse JAS-Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti  30.060
 5    J.J. Lehto/FIN         Rosberg-Opel Calibra V6 4x4          37.504
 6    Yannick Dalmas/F       Joest-Opel Calibra V6 4x4            38.490
 7    Stefano Modena/I       Alfa Corse JAS-Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti  41.612
 8    Christian Danner/D     Alfa Corse TV Spielf.Alfa 155V6Ti  1:01.801
 9    Joerg van Ommen/D      UPS Team AMG-Mercedes C-Class      1:12.592
10    Oliver Gavin/GB        Joest-Opel Calibra V6 4x4            -1 lap
11    Bernd Maylander/D      Team Persson AMG-Mercedes C-Class     1
12    Giancarlo Fisichella/I Alfa Corse TV Spielf.Alfa 155 V6 Ti   1
13    Uwe Alzen/D            Zakspeed-Opel Calibra V6 4x4          1
14    Alessandro Nannini/I   Alfa Corse Martini-Alfa 155 V6 Ti     1
15    Ellen Lohr/D           Team Persson AMG-Mercedes C-Class     1
16    Bernd Schneider/D      D2 Team AMG-Mercedes C-Class          1
17    Dario Franchitti/GB    D2 Team AMG-Mercedes C-Class          2
18    Kurt Thiim/DK          UPS Team AMG-Mercedes C-Class         3
19    Gianni Giudici/I       Giudici Racing-Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti   3

FL:   Dario Franchitti/GB 1:27.219 (=131.26 kph)


RACE 2:

DNS:  Oliver Gavin, Dario Franchitti, Gabriele Tarquini
      and Jan Magnussen

Opel was dominating in 2nd race again, H.-J. Stuck won, followed by
Manuel Reuter and JJ Lehto. Behind the podium came an Alfa-trio,
with Alessandro Nannini, Giancarlo Fisichella and Nicola Larini.
The best Mercedes came in in 7th place with Bernd Maylander.    

Right after the start Stuck and Reuter got away from the rest of
the field, followed by the Alfa pilots Stefano Modena and Michael
Bartels.

Safety car phase after the first lap through a fire at Christian
Danner's Alfa. This was a good chance for JJ Lehto to close up.
JJ had to started from pit lane, caused through a failure of his
starter. Modena was kicked into a wall by Bartels, beeing in 3rd
position after the restart.  Bartels later went into the pits because 
he smelled fuel in his Alfa - out.

JJ Lehto had a fantastic chase, from 19th position he fought his
way through, up to third. Nicola Larini, who had started behind JJ
out of pit lane, made it up to 6th.

-----------------------------RESULTS RACE 2-----------------------------
Pos.  Driver                         Team - Car                 Time/Gap
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1    Hans-Joachim Stuck/D   Rosberg-Opel Calibra V6 4x4       49:36.662
 2    Manuel Reuter/D        Joest-Opel Calibra V6 4x4           +13.201
 3    J.J. Lehto/FIN         Rosberg-Opel Calibra V6 4x4          33.680
 4    Alessandro Nannini/I   Alfa Corse Martini-Alfa 155 V6 Ti    40.467
 5    Giancarlo Fisichella/I Alfa Corse TV Spielf.Alfa 155 V6 Ti  49.638
 6    Nicola Larini/I        Alfa Corse Martini-Alfa 155 V6 Ti    56.342
 7    Bernd Maylander/D      Team Persson AMG-Mercedes C-Class    -1 lap
 8    Ellen Lohr/D           Team Persson AMG-Mercedes C-Class     1
 9    Alexander Wurz/A       Joest-Opel Calibra V6 4x4             1
10    Alexander Grau/D       Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes C-Class       1

FL:   Hans-Joachim Stuck/D  1:26.577 (=132.23 kph)

Not classified:
      Bernd Schneider/D      D2 Team AMG-Mercedes C-Class
                                        Traction failure, out in lap 25
      Joerg van Ommen/D      UPS Team AMG-Mercedes C-Class
                                Cought fire after hitting a wall,lap 25
      Kurt Thiim/DK          UPS Team AMG-Mercedes C-Class
                                        Traction failure, out in lap 24
      Yannick Dalmas/F       Joest-Opel Calibra V6 4x4
                                        Tire wall - lap 23
      Gianni Giudici/I       Giudici Racing-Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti
                                        Mechanical failure - lap 23
      Klaus Ludwig/D         Zakspeed-Opel Calibra V6 4x4
                                        Cables burning - lap 21
      Uwe Alzen/D            Zakspeed-Opel Calibra V6 4x4
                                        Spun off in lap 15
      Michael Bartels/D      Alfa Corse JAS-Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti
                        Fuel inside of the Alfa, pits and out in lap 14
      Stefano Modena/I       Alfa Corse JAS-Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti
                                        Accident in 5th lap
      Christian Danner/D     Alfa Corse TV Spielf.Alfa 155V6Ti
                                        Fire in 1st lap

Championship points:

Pos     Driver                  Pts
-----------------------------------
 1    Manuel Reuter/D           116
 2    Hans-Joachim Stuck/D       62
 3    Jan Magnussen/DK           51
      Alessandro Nannini/I       51
 5    Dario Franchitti/GB        43
      J.J. Lehto/FIN             43
 7    Uwe Alzen/D                42
 8    Bernd Schneider/D          41
 9    Joerg van Ommen/D          38
10    Giancarlo Fisichella/I     36
11    Klaus Ludwig/D             24
12    Alexander Grau/D           15
13    Oliver Gavin/GB            13
14    Michael Bartels/D          10
      Nicola Larini/I            10
16    Yannick Dalmas/F            9
      Gabriele Tarquini/I         9
18    Christian Danner/D          6
      Stefano Modena/I            6
      Kurt Thiim/DK               6
      Alexander Wurz/A            6
22    Ellen Lohr/D                5
23    Bernd Maylander/D           4
24    Jason Watt/DK               2


Manufacturer
-----------------------------------
 1    Opel                      131
 2    Mercedes-Benz              87
 3    Alfa Romeo                 75