1987 World Rally Championship

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The 1987 World Rally Championship was the 15th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC). The season consisted of 13 rallies in the same venues of the previous season. The only alteration to the schedule was the move of the Olympus Rally from December to June on the calendar.

1987 marked the beginning of a new era for the WRC, as it was the first season driven without the powerful and popular Group B rally cars, seeing the Group A cars come to the forefront of the world stage and the institution of championships not only for manufacturers and drivers, but also drivers of production and two-wheel drive cars. Group A would remain at the forefront of the championship for ten years, where a new specification, World Rally Car were made standard in 1997. The FIA also changed the basic scoring rules for manufacturers although they retained the policy of having two rallies not count toward manufacturers totals. New Zealand and the Ivory Coast were selected in 1987 to count solely for drivers' titles.

Martini Lancia proved most successful in adjusting to the new lower-powered cars, adopting the Lancia Delta HF 4WD, driven by Finns Juha Kankkunen and Markku Alén as well as Italian Miki Biasion. Between the three, Lancia would gather nine rally wins over the thirteen race season, dominating the manufacturers' race for the championship. Meanwhile, the three drivers split success between them, placing closely in the top three places for the drivers' title by the end of the season.

Audi Sport retained both Hannu Mikkola and Walter Röhrl, although they could not duplicate the success of their Group B seasons, both placing well down in the drivers' title competition. Audi however did gain some points from others team running the Quattro. with driver Per Eklund contributed 26 points to the work's effort while 's entry, added another eight, bolstering Audi's bid for second overall.

The team struggled through the season with the Group A Renault 11 Turbo. French drivers Jean Ragnotti and were unable to gain much success, with the highlight of their season coming at Portugal with Ragnotti's second-place finish.

Volkswagen Motorsport followed their success of the previous season with Swede Kenneth Eriksson, the 1986 winner of the championship for drivers of Group A cars. Eriksson was able to place fourth overall on the season, beaten only by Lancia drivers. Volkswagen, lacking a major second driver, was surpassed by not only Lancia, but Audi and Renault as well in the manufacturer standings.

Ford Motor Company made its return to serious competition by enlisting drivers Ari Vatanen and Stig Blomqvist, but struggled early on with the Sierra XR 4x4. The car was dropped, its replacement on the works team coming in the end of the season in the form of the redesigned Sierra RS Cosworth, which met with much greater success, challenging the dominant Lancias in the final three events of the season.

Teams and drivers[]

Team Constructor Car Tyre Drivers Rounds
Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD P Finland Juha Kankkunen 1–3, 6–7, 10, 13
Italy Miki Biasion 1, 3, 5–7, 9, 12
France Bruno Saby 1, 5, 12–13
Finland Markku Alén 2–3, 6–7, 10, 12–13
Sweden Mikael Ericsson 2, 13
Kenya Vic Preston Jr 4
France Yves Loubet 5
Argentina Jorge Recalde 9
Japan Mazda Rally Team Europe Mazda 323 4WD M Finland Timo Salonen 1–3, 10, 13
Sweden Ingvar Carlsson 1–3, 9–10
Finland Mikael Sundström 2, 10, 13
Finland Harri Toivonen 2, 10
New Zealand Rod Millen 7
United States Jon Woodner 7
New Zealand 8
Belgium 12
France Philips Renault Elf
France Renault Sport Elf
Renault 11 Turbo M France Jean Ragnotti 1, 3, 5–6, 12
France 1, 3, 5–6, 12
France Alain Oreille 1, 5
Portugal 3
Portugal 3
Portugal 3
Germany Audi Sport Audi 200 Quattro
80 Quattro
Coupé Quattro
M Germany Walter Röhrl 1, 4, 6
Finland Hannu Mikkola 4, 6, 10
Sweden Lars-Erik Torph 2
Sweden Per Eklund 2, 9, 10, 13
Sweden 2
Austria 3–4, 6, 11–12
Argentina Jorge Recalde 6
Italy 6
United States John Buffum 7
United Kingdom David Llewellin 12–13
United Kingdom Ford Motor Co Ltd Ford Sierra XR 4x4
Sierra RS Cosworth
P Sweden Stig Blomqvist 1–2, 4–5, 8, 10, 13
Sweden Kalle Grundel 1–2, 5
France Didier Auriol 1, 5, 12
Spain Carlos Sainz 3, 5, 13
Portugal 3
Kenya 4
Finland Ari Vatanen 10
United Kingdom Jimmy McRae 12–13
United Kingdom Mark Lovell 13
United Kingdom 13
Germany Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V P Sweden Kenneth Eriksson 1–6, 8–9, 11, 13
Germany Erwin Weber 1, 3–4, 6, 9, 11
Finland 10
Japan Fuji Heavy Industries Subaru RX Turbo D Sweden Per Eklund 1, 4
Germany 1
Finland Ari Vatanen 4
New Zealand Peter 'Possum' Bourne 4, 8, 13
Kenya 4
Chile 9
France Mercedes France Mercedes 190E 2.3 16V M France Bernard Darniche 1, 5
France 1
Italy Jolly Club Lancia Delta HF 4WD P Italy 1–3, 6, 12
Italy Alex Fiorio 1–3, 6–7, 10, 12
Sweden Mikael Ericsson 6, 12
Argentina Jorge Recalde 9
Italy 12
United Kingdom GM Euro Sport Opel
Vauxhall
Kadett GSI 16V
Astra GTE
M Sweden Mats Jonsson 2, 10, 13
Sweden 2
Sweden 2
United Kingdom David Metcalfe 2, 13
Finland Rauno Aaltonen 4
France Guy Fréquelin 5, 12
Austria Sepp Haider 10, 12–13
United Kingdom Derek Bell 13
United Kingdom Malcolm Wilson 13
United Kingdom 13
Finland Pentti Airikkala 13
Japan Toyota Team Europe Toyota Supra 3.0i
Supra Turbo
P Sweden Björn Waldegård 4, 7, 11
Sweden Lars-Erik Torph 4, 7, 11
Kenya 4, 11
Japan Nissan Motorsports International Nissan 200SX D Kenya Shekhar Mehta 4, 6–7, 11
Italy 4, 6
Kenya Mike Kirkland 4, 6, 11
Kenya 4
Greece 6
Sweden Mikael Ericsson 7
Sweden Per Eklund 7
New Zealand 8
France Alain Ambrosino 11
France Rothmans Motul BMW BMW M3 M France Bernard Béguin 5
Belgium Marc Duez 5
France 5
Austria Funkberaterring Rally Team Lancia Delta HF 4WD M Austria Franz Wittmann 8
Japan Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe Mitsubishi Starion Turbo M Finland 10
Finland 10
France Patrick Tauziac 11
Italy Grifone Esso Lancia Delta HF 4WD P Italy Fabrizio Tabaton 12

Schedule and results[]

1987 World Rally Championship schedule and results
Round Rally name Stages Podium finishers
Rank Driver Co-driver Team Car Time
1 Monaco Rallye Monte Carlo
(17 January–22 January)
26 stages
571 km
Tarmac
1 Italy Miki Biasion Italy Tiziano Siviero Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD 7:39.50
2 Finland Juha Kankkunen Finland Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD 7:40.49
3 West Germany Walter Röhrl West Germany Christian Geistdörfer West Germany Audi Sport Audi 200 Quattro 7:44.00
2 Sweden Swedish Rally
(13 February–14 February)
26 stages
400 km
Snow/Ice
1 Finland Timo Salonen Finland Seppo Harjanne Japan Mazda Rally Team Europe Mazda 323 4WD 4:11.00
2 Sweden Mikael Ericsson Sweden Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD 4:11.23
3 Finland Juha Kankkunen Finland Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD 4:12.46
3 Portugal Rallye de Portugal
(11 March–14 March)
37 stages
597 km
Gravel/Tarmac
1 Finland Markku Alén Finland Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD 7:09.39
2 France Jean Ragnotti France France Renault Sport Elf Renault 11 Turbo 7:12.32
3 Sweden Kenneth Eriksson West Germany West Germany Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V 7:14.37
4 Kenya Safari Rally
(16 April–20 April)
83 controls
4011 km
Gravel
1 Finland Hannu Mikkola Sweden Arne Hertz West Germany Audi Sport Audi 200 Quattro 3:39.44
2 West Germany Walter Röhrl West Germany Christian Geistdörfer West Germany Audi Sport Audi 200 Quattro 3:56.59
3 Sweden Lars-Erik Torph Sweden Japan Toyota Team Europe Toyota Supra 3.0i 4:31.09
5 France Tour de Corse
(7 May–9 May)
24 stages
619 km
Tarmac
1 France Bernard Béguin France France Rothmans Motul BMW BMW M3 7:22.30
2 France Yves Loubet France Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD 7:24.38
3 Italy Miki Biasion Italy Tiziano Siviero Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD 7:24.58
6 Greece Acropolis Rally
(May 31–3)
33 stages
538 km
Gravel
1 Finland Markku Alén Finland Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD 7:25.57
2 Finland Juha Kankkunen Finland Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD 7:26.45
3 Finland Hannu Mikkola Sweden Arne Hertz West Germany Audi Sport Audi 200 Quattro 7:31.21
7 United States Olympus Rally
(26 June–29 June)
42 stages
540 km
Gravel
1 Finland Juha Kankkunen Finland Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD 5:59.24
2 Italy Miki Biasion Italy Tiziano Siviero Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD 5:59.36
3 Finland Markku Alén Finland Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD 6:00.06
8 New Zealand Rally New Zealand[1]
(11 July–14 July)
36 stages
593 km
Gravel
1 Austria Franz Wittmann Austria Austria Lancia Delta HF 4WD 6:56.00
2 Sweden Kenneth Eriksson West Germany West Germany Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V 6:56.47
3 New Zealand Possum Bourne New Zealand Japan Fuji Heavy Industries Subaru RX Turbo 7:04.25
9 Argentina Rally Argentina
(4 August–8 August)
26 stages
596 km
Gravel
1 Italy Miki Biasion Italy Tiziano Siviero Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD 7:10.27
2 Argentina Jorge Recalde Argentina Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD 7:11.28
3 West Germany Erwin Weber West Germany West Germany Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V 7:37.11
10 Finland 1000 Lakes Rally
(27 August–30 August)
52 stages
494 km
Gravel
1 Finland Markku Alén Finland Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD 5:12.22
2 Finland Ari Vatanen United Kingdom United Kingdom Ford Motor Co Ltd Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 5:17.54
3 Sweden Stig Blomqvist Sweden United Kingdom Ford Motor Co Ltd Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 5:18.51
11 Ivory Coast Rallye Côte d'Ivoire[1]
(22 September–26 September)
29 controls
3831 km
Gravel
1 Sweden Kenneth Eriksson West Germany West Germany Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V +48.57 pen
2 Kenya Shekhar Mehta Kenya Japan Nissan Motorsports International Nissan 200SX +1:09.18 pen
3 West Germany Erwin Weber West Germany West Germany Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V +2:05.56 pen
12 Italy Rallye Sanremo
(12 October–15 October)
38 stages
529 km
Gravel/Tarmac
1 Italy Miki Biasion Italy Tiziano Siviero Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD 6:09.19
2 France Bruno Saby France Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD 6:14.30
3 France Jean Ragnotti France France Renault Sport Elf Renault 11 Turbo 6:16.55
13 United Kingdom RAC Rally
(22 November–25 November)
47 stages
539 km
Gravel/Tarmac
1 Finland Juha Kankkunen Finland Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD 5:26.36
2 Sweden Stig Blomqvist Sweden United Kingdom Ford Motor Co Ltd Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 5:29.48
3 United Kingdom Jimmy McRae United Kingdom United Kingdom RED Ford Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 5:33.15

Championship for manufacturers[]

1987 World Rally Championship for Manufacturers
Rank Manufacturers Event Total
points
Monaco
MON
Sweden
SWE
Portugal
POR
Kenya
KEN
France
FRA
Greece
GRC
United States
USA
Argentina
ARG
Finland
FIN
Italy
ITA
United Kingdom
GBR
1 Italy Lancia 20 - 20 - - 20 20 20 20 20 - 140
2 West Germany Audi 14 6 8 20 - 14 - - 12 - 8 82
3 France Renault 8 - 17 - 12 10 - 10 - 14 - 71
4 West Germany Volkswagen 10 4 14 12 - 8 - 14 - - 2 64
5 United States Ford - 8 2 - 6 - - - 17 12 17 62
6 Japan Mazda 12 20 - - - - 12 - 8 - - 52
7 Japan Toyota - - - 14 - - 8 - - - - 22
8 West Germany BMW - - - - 20 - - - - - - 20
9 West Germany Opel - - - 2 - - - - - 8 6 16
10 Japan Subaru 1 - - 10 - - - - - - 1 12
11 Japan Nissan - - - 4 - 1 4 - - - - 9
12 Italy Fiat - - 1 - - - - 4 - - - 5
1987 World Rally Championship point awards for manufacturers
Points awarded by finish 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
20 17 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 1

Championship for drivers[]

1987 World Rally Championship for Drivers
Rank Driver Event Total
points
Monaco
MON
Sweden
SWE
Portugal
POR
Kenya
KEN
France
FRA
Greece
GRC
United States
USA
New Zealand
NZL
Argentina
ARG
Finland
FIN
Ivory Coast
CIV
Italy
ITA
United Kingdom
GBR
1 Finland Juha Kankkunen 15 12 10 - - 15 20 - - 8 - - 20 100
2 Italy Miki Biasion 20 - 3 - 12 4 15 - 20 - - 20 - 94
3 Finland Markku Alén - 8 20 - - 20 12 - - 20 - - 8 88
4 Sweden Kenneth Eriksson 8 3 12 - - - - 15 10 - 20 - 2 70
5 France Jean Ragnotti 6 - 15 - 10 8 - - - - - 12 - 51
6 West Germany Erwin Weber 4 - - 10 - 6 - - 12 - 12 - - 44
7 Sweden Stig Blomqvist - 6 - - - - - - - 12 - - 15 33
8 Finland Hannu Mikkola - - - 20 - 12 - - - - - - - 32
9 Argentina Jorge Recalde - - 1 - - 10 4 - 16 - - - - 30
10 Sweden Mikael Ericsson - 15 - - - - - - - - - 3 10 28
11 West Germany Walter Röhrl 12 - - 15 - - - - - - - - - 27
12 Sweden Per Eklund 1 4 - 8 - - 2 - - 10 - - - 25
13 France 3 - 8 - 8 3 - - - - - - - 22
14 Finland Timo Salonen - 20 - - - - - - - - - - - 20
France Bernard Béguin - - - - 20 - - - - - - - - 20
Austria Franz Wittmann - - - - - - - 20 - - - - - 20
17 Sweden Ingvar Carlsson 10 10 - - - - - - - - - - - 20
18 Kenya Shekhar Mehta - - - - - - 3 - - - 15 - - 18
19 Finland Ari Vatanen - - - 1 - - - - - 15 - - - 16
20 France Yves Loubet - - - - 15 - - - - - - - - 15
France Bruno Saby - - - - - - - - - - - 15 - 15
22 France Didier Auriol - - - - 3 - - - - - - 10 - 13
23 Sweden Lars-Erik Torph - - - 12 - - - - - - - - - 12
New Zealand 'Possum' Bourne - - - - - - - 12 - - - - - 12
United Kingdom Jimmy McRae - - - - - - - - - - - - 12 12
26 New Zealand Rod Millen - - - - - - 10 - - - - - - 10
New Zealand - - - - - - - 10 - - - - - 10
France Patrick Tauziac - - - - - - - - - - 10 - - 10
29 Italy - - - - - - 8 - - - - 2 - 10
30 Austria - - 4 4 - 2 - - - - - - - 10
31 Australia - - - - - - - 8 - - - - - 8
Argentina - - - - - - - - 8 - - - - 8
France - - - - - - - - - - 8 - - 8
Italy Fabrizio Tabaton - - - - - - - - - - - 8 - 8
35 Spain Carlos Sainz - - - - 4 - - - - - - - 3 7
36 Austria - - 6 - - - - - - - - - - 6
Kenya - - - 6 - - - - - - - - - 6
Belgium Marc Duez - - - - 6 - - - - - - - - 6
Sweden Björn Waldegård - - - - - - 6 - - - - - - 6
New Zealand - - - - - - - 6 - - - - - 6
Brazil - - - - - - - - 6 - - - - 6
Sweden - - - - - - - - - 6 - - - 6
France - - - - - - - - - - 6 - - 6
France Guy Fréquelin - - - - - - - - - - - 6 - 6
United Kingdom David Llewellin - - - - - - - - - - - - 6 6
46 New Zealand - - - - - - - 4 - - - - - 4
Brazil - - - - - - - - 4 - - - - 4
Finland Sebastian Lindholm - - - - - - - - - 4 - - - 4
France - - - - - - - - - - 4 - - 4
Italy Alex Fiorio - - - - - - - - - - - 4 - 4
Sweden Mats Jonsson - - - - - - - - - - - - 4 4
52 Kenya Mike Kirkland - - - 3 - 1 - - - - - - - 4
53 New Zealand - - - - - - - 3 - - - - - 3
Argentina - - - - - - - - 3 - - - - 3
Finland - - - - - - - - - 3 - - - 3
Italy - - - - - - - - - - 3 - - 3
57 Sweden - 1 - - - - - - - 2 - - - 3
58 France 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - 2
Sweden - 2 - - - - - - - - - - - 2
Portugal - - 2 - - - - - - - - - - 2
Finland Rauno Aaltonen - - - 2 - - - - - - - - - 2
France Alain Oreille - - - - 2 - - - - - - - - 2
Japan - - - - - - - 2 - - - - - 2
Argentina - - - - - - - - 2 - - - - 2
Finland - - - - - - - - - - 2 - - 2
66 France - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - 1
New Zealand - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - 1
New Zealand - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - 1
Chile - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - 1
Finland Timo Heinonen - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - 1
Ivory Coast - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - 1
Austria Sepp Haider - - - - - - - - - - - 1 - 1
Sweden - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 1
1987 World Rally Championship point awards for drivers
Points awarded by finish 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
20 15 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1

Sources[]

  1. ^ a b Event not included in the Manufacturers' Championship

See also[]

  • 1987 in sports

External links[]

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