The 1987 Australian Formula 2 Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Australian Formula 2 racing cars.[1] It was the 20th Australian Formula 2 Championship.[2]
The championship was won by Arthur Abrahams driving a modified version of a Cheetah Mk.8 after championship leader Mark McLaughlin (Elfin 852) collided with third placed driver Graeme Smith (Cheetah Mk.7) in the warm-up of the final race of the season. Abrahams only win was at the final race compared to McLaughlin's three. The other race wins were taken by Cheetah driver Derek Pingel and Ralt RT30 driver David Brabham. Abrahams won the championship by 20 points. Smith stayed third, 41 points behind McLaughlin and just four points ahead of Pingel. Magnum driver Neil Israel was a further three points behind.
The championship was contested over a six-round series with one race per round.[3]
Championship points were awarded on a 30–27–24–21–19–17–15–14–13–12–11–10–9–8–7–6–5–4–3–2 basis to the first 20 finishers in each round.[4]
| Position | Driver | No. | Car[5] [6] | Entrant | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Total[7] [8] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arthur Abrahams | 19 | Cheetah Mk.8 Volkswagen | Arthur Abrahams | 6th | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 152 |
| 2 | Mark McLaughlin | 9 | Elfin 852 Volkswagen | Elfin Sports Cars Pty Ltd | 1st | 1st | 4th | 4th | 1st | DNS | 132 |
| 3 | Graeme Smith | 27 | Cheetah Mk.7 Volkswagen | Graeme Smith | 5th | 5th | 9th | 5th | 4th | Ret | 91 |
| 4 | Derek Pingel | 5 | Cheetah Mk.8 Volkswagen | Derek Pingle | Ret | 3rd | 1st | 3rd | Ret | 13th | 87 |
| 5 | Neil Israel | 44 | Magnum 863 Volkswagen | Magnum Racing Australia | 4th | 4th | 7th | Ret | 2nd | 84 | |
| 6 | Jon Crooke | 1 | Cheetah Mk.8 Volkswagen | Michael Borland | 2nd | Ret | 2nd | 9th | 67 | ||
| 7 | Ian Caldwell | 6 | Cheetah Mk.6 Toyota | Ian Caldwell | 10th | 15th | 10th | 9th | 10th | 56 | |
| 8 | Rohan Onslow | 1 | Cheetah Mk.8 Volkswagen | Michael Borland | 3rd | 5th | 43 | ||||
| Grahame Blee | 2 | Cheetah Mk.6 Toyota | Bill Slattery's Truck & Bus Sales | 7th | Ret | 11th | 6th | Ret | 43 | ||
| 10 | Ian Richards | 11 | Richards 201C Volkswagen | Ian Richards | 3rd | Ret | 8th | Ret | 38 | ||
| 11 | Wayne Ford | 31 | Ralt RT3 Volkswagen Ralt RT3 Ford | Wayne Ford | 8th | Ret | 6th | DNS | 31 | ||
| 12 | David Brabham | 8 | Ralt RT30 Volkswagen | Australian Motor Racing Pty Ltd | Ret | Ret | 1st | 30 | |||
| Barry Johnson | Cheetah Mk.8 Ford | Ret | 7th | 7th | 30 | ||||||
| 14 | Dave Thompson | 53 | Ralt RT4 Nissan | Autosport Pty Ltd | 6th | 10th | Ret | 29 | |||
| David Goode | Elfin 630B | 7th | 8th | 29 | |||||||
| 16 | John Wise | Cheetak Mk.7 Volkswagen | 3rd | 24 | |||||||
| 17 | Chris Hocking | Cheetak Mk.6 Toyota | 4th | 21 | |||||||
| 18 | Peter Beehag | 14 | PBS 852 Nissan | Peter Beehag | 5th | 19 | |||||
| Mike Holmes | 22 | Elfin 700 Volkswagen | Mike Holmes | 5th | 19 | ||||||
| 20 | Craig Sparks | 3 | Richards 201 Volkswagen | Craig Sparks | 6th | Ret | 17 | ||||
| Thomas Crozier | 26 | Cheetak Mk.8 Volkswagen | Thomas Crozier | DNS | Ret | 6th | 17 | ||||
| 22 | Tom Coull | 24 | Elfin 620B Ford | Tom Coull | Ret | 7th | 15 | ||||
| 23 | Bob Jennings | 4 | Cheetak Mk.7 Nissan | Bob Jennings | 8th | 14 | |||||
| Robert Antel | Elfin GE Two-25 Volkswagen | 8th | 14 | ||||||||
| 25 | Shane Flynn | 77 | Kaditcha F283A Volkswagen | Avanti Spares | DNS | 9th | DNS | 13 | |||
| Rodney Moody | Cheetak Mk.6 Toyota | 9th | 13 | ||||||||
| 27 | Graham Sharley | 30 | Cheetah Toyota | Graham Sharley | 10th | 12 | |||||
| 28 | Salvatore Astuti | Cheetak Mk.6 Ford | 11th | 11 | |||||||
| 29 | Michael Lock | 10 | Richards 201B Volkswagen | Michael Lock | 12th | 10 | |||||
| Ray Cutchie | Ralt RT4 Ford | 12th | 10 | ||||||||
| 31 | Mike Drewer | 45 | Cheetak Mk.7 Toyota | Michael John Drewer | 13th | Ret | 9 | ||||
| 32 | Tony Rees | 78 | Ralt RT3 | AG Rees | 14th | 8 | |||||
| Max Engellenner | Crabtree BMW | 14th | 8 | ||||||||
| Vince McLaughlan | Cheetah Mk.8 Volkswagen | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 0 | |||||
| Adrian Martin | Ralt RT1 Ford | Ret | 0 | ||||||||
| Guy Richards | Cheetah BMW | DNS | Ret | 0 | |||||||
| Noel Orphan | Elfin 700 Ford | Ret | 0 | ||||||||
| Rob Newman | Cheetah Mk.7 Toyota | Ret | DNS | 0 | |||||||
| Steve Noble | Richards 201B Volkswagen | Ret | DNS | 0 | |||||||
| Bob Power | Ralt RT3 Volkswagen | Ret | 0 | ||||||||
| Barry Ward | Ralt RT30 Volkswagen | Ret | DNS | 0 | |||||||
| Carl Gibson | Elfin 792 Volkswagen | Ret | 0 | ||||||||
| Phil Sutton | Elfin 623 | DNS | 0 | ||||||||
| Ron Barnacle | Wren Volkswagen | DNS | DNS | 0 | |||||||
| Mark Potter | Elfin 700 Ford | DNS | 0 | ||||||||