The Jordan Grand Prix team enters the new season with high expectations after generally encouraging performances in 1995. The team is in its second year of exclusive use of official Peugeot engines, which from this season have been upgraded to the A12 version, delivering about twenty more horsepower than the previous A10s and, more importantly, featuring much-improved reliability, the real Achilles’ heel of the 195 car used the year before. The technical staff, still working under the direction of team manager John Walton, although he would move mid-season to Footwork-Arrows, remains virtually unchanged. The veteran designer Gary Anderson once again impresses everyone by creating the new Jordan 196, a completely new car that breaks with the recent design tradition of the Irish team.
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| JORDAN 196, Martin Brundle Estoril, Portuguese GP 1996 |
Tim Holloway joins Anderson as technical director, having previously spent several seasons in Formula 1 with March, Fondmetal, and Larrousse, replacing Andrew Green. Mark Smith continues to be responsible for mechanical design, while Darren Davies remains in charge of aerodynamics. The new chassis designed for the 196 is a carbon fiber monocoque with a honeycomb structure, naturally featuring the new side cockpit panels for driver head protection. The suspension system is completely revised, although it retains the classic double wishbone push-rod configuration. The engine is the aforementioned Peugeot A12 V10, producing 720 hp at 15,500 rpm, paired again with the seven-speed semi-automatic gearbox developed in-house by Jordan, although it has been thoroughly redesigned due to the numerous failures suffered in 1995.
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| JORDAN 196, Martin Brundle Monza, Italian GP 1996 |
The new 196 is very different from Jordan’s previous single-seaters, starting with the nose cone. After several seasons with a traditional sloping nose, the 196 adopts a modern raised and very slender shape with a full-width wing supported by two pillars, echoing designs seen on Williams and Benetton cars. The sidepods, although retaining the violin-case shape of the 195, feature two different, very thin slot-shaped air intakes, one positioned beside the cockpit and the other on the outer part of the sidepods, Benetton-style. The engine cover is wider and reflects the shapes of the side panels at the cockpit level, and on slower circuits, it is equipped with a small supplementary wing placed just behind the engine air intake, in McLaren style. The rear of the car remains clean and tapered, a hallmark of Gary Anderson’s designs. Like all cars on the 1996 grid, the new Jordan is also equipped with the side fins placed in front of the rear wheels, connecting the sidepods to the rear wing.
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| JORDAN 196, Martin Brundle Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1996 |
Eddie Jordan, once again demonstrating his excellent managerial skills, secures a lucrative sponsorship deal with Benson & Hedges, a cigarette brand of the Gallaher Group under British American Tobacco. The new sponsor prompts a change from the team’s traditional green-yellow-red livery, although those colors were used for the initial unveiling of the new car to the press. At the start of the season, the 196 sports a mustard shade that doesn’t come across well on TV and fails to impress the sponsor’s executives. As a result, the livery is changed after the first few races to a distinctive gold color. To partner with returning Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello, the team hires veteran Martin Brundle, known especially for his expertise in car setup. However, the British driver is entering his final season in Formula 1. The new 196 turns out to be much harder to handle compared to the easy-to-drive 195, and significantly less competitive, mainly due to a subpar chassis. Despite the Irish team’s efforts, results are disappointing. Furthermore, until mid-season, the 196 still suffers from poor reliability, forcing the two drivers into 10 retirements due to mechanical issues in the first 8 races.
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| JORDAN 196, Rubens Barrichello Interlagos, GP del Brazilian GP 1996 |
From mid-season onwards, Anderson abandons development of the 196 to focus on the future 197. Ironically, once the early flaws of a poorly-born car are resolved, the team regains reliability and achieves a certain consistency, collecting a series of point finishes that allow the Irish squad to accumulate 22 points, 1 more than the previous year, and secure fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship. The best results of the season remain three fourth-place finishes: two for Barrichello in Argentina and Great Britain, and one for Brundle in Italy. However, with no podiums, Jordan still proves to be a second-tier team behind the more competitive Williams-Renault, Benetton-Renault, Ferrari, and McLaren-Mercedes. In the first weekend of December 1996, a 196 is handed over to Nigel Mansell for a series of tests at the Catalunya-Barcelona circuit in Spain, although this did not lead to any continuation in the veteran British driver’s career.
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