1987 World Touring Car Championship Explained
The 1987 World Touring Car Championship season was the inaugural World Touring Car Championship season. It commenced on 22 March 1987 and ended on 15 November after eleven races. The championship was open to Touring Cars complying with FIA Group A regulations. The Drivers title was won by Roberto Ravaglia in a BMW M3 and the Entrants title by Eggenberger Motorsport in a Ford Sierra Cosworth No 7.[1]
Teams and drivers
Fifteen registered entries were received for the championship. Regulations imposed by last minute series promoter Bernie Ecclestone dictated that for teams to receive official points and prize money they must have paid the US$60,000 registration fee. This in fact saw a number of the top teams, most notably Tom Walkinshaw Racing who had been the team to beat in the 1984, 1985 and 1986 European Touring Car Championships, refuse to pay and virtually ignore the championship.
Among those who did commit to the championship were the Ford Europe backed Eggenberger Motorsport with their Texaco sponsored Ford Sierra turbo's, Andy Rouse's team who ran their own Ford Sierra Cosworth, the factory backed BMW teams of West Germany's Schnitzer Motorsport and the Italian CiBiEmme and Bigazzi teams racing the new BMW M3 which had replaced the old 635 CSi as BMW's main challenger, and the Alfa Corse team with their factory Alfa Romeo 75 turbo's.
Although numerous other entries competed in races during the season only the following were eligible to score championship points. Ironically, two outright race winning teams in the championship were not eligible for championship points. Cars competed in three engine capacity divisions:
- Division 1: up to 1600 cm3
- Division 2: 1601 to 2500 cm3
- Division 3: Over 2500 cm3
| No. | Team | Car | Div. | Tyre | Rounds | Driver | Rounds |
|---|
| 1 |  Pro Team Italia/Imberti | Maserati Biturbo | 3 | | 1, 3-4, 6-9 | Bruno Giacomelli | 1, 3-4, 6 |
 Armin Hahne | 1, 3-4, 6-9 |
| Marcello Gunella | 1, 4, 6 |
 Mario Hytten | 7 |
| Nicola Tesini | 7 |
 Kevin Bartlett | 8-9 |
| 2 | Pro Team Italia/Imberti | Maserati Biturbo | 3 | | 3 | Mario Hytten | 3 |
| Marcello Gunella | 3 |
| 4 | Pro Team Italia/Imberti | Maserati Biturbo | 3 | | 9 | Marcello Gunella | 9 |
| Nicola Tesini | 9 |
| Stefano Livio | 9 |
| 6 | Eggenberger Motorsport | Ford Sierra RS Cosworth
Ford Sierra RS500 | 3 | | All |  Steve Soper | 1-10 |
| Klaus Niedzwiedz | 1-3, 11 |
 Pierre Dieudonné | 4-10 |
 Philippe Streiff | 5 |
| Klaus Ludwig | 11 |
| 7 | Eggenberger Motorsport | Ford Sierra RS Cosworth
Ford Sierra RS500 | 3 | | All | Klaus Ludwig | 1-10 |
| Pierre Dieudonné | 1-3, 11 |
| Klaus Niedzwiedz | 4-10 |
| Thierry Boutsen | 5 |
| Steve Soper | 11 |
| 8 | Eggenberger Motorsport | Ford Sierra RS500 | 3 | | 11 | Armin Hahne | 11 |
| Bernd Schneider | 11 |
| 8 | Andy Rouse Engineering | Ford Sierra RS Cosworth
Ford Sierra RS500 | 3 | | 1-7 | Andy Rouse | 1-7 |
| Thierry Tassin | 1-7 |
| 5 |
| 40 | Schnitzer | BMW M3 | 2 | | All | Ivan Capelli | 1-5 |
| Roberto Ravaglia | 1, 3-6, 8, 11 |
 Roland Ratzenberger | 2, 7, 9-10 |
| Emanuele Pirro | 5-6, 8 |
| Markus Oestreich | 7, 9-11 |
| Dieter Quester | 11 |
| 42 | CiBiEmme Sport | BMW M3 | 2 | | All | Riccardo Patrese | 1 |
| Johnny Cecotto | All |
| Gianfranco Brancatelli | 2-11 |
| Mauro Baldi | 5 |
| 43 | Bigazzi | BMW M3 | 2 | | All |  Luis Pérez-Sala | 1-2, 4-7, 11 |
| Olivier Grouillard | 1-2, 4-8, 10-11 |
| Winfried Vogt | 3, 5, 8-10 |
| Markus Oestreich | 3 |
| Altfrid Heger | 8-9 |
| 46 | Schnitzer Motorsport | BMW M3 | 2 | | All | Emanuele Pirro | 1-3, 7, 9-11 |
| Roland Ratzenberger | 1, 3-8 |
| Roberto Ravaglia | 2, 6-7, 9-11 |
| Markus Oestreich | 4-6, 8 |
| Dieter Quester | 5 |
| 75 | Alfa Corse | Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo | 2 | | 1-7 | Alessandro Nannini | 1-3 |
 Michael Andretti | 1 |
| Jacques Laffite | 2-7 |
| Paolo Barilla | 4-7 |
| Jean-Louis Schlesser | 5 |
| 76 | Alfa Corse | Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo | 2 | | 1-7 | Giorgio Francia | 1-4 |
| Paolo Barilla | 1-2 |
| Jean-Louis Schlesser | 3-4 |
| Walter Voulaz | 5-7 |
| Marcello Cipriani | 5-7 |
| Massimo Siena | 5 |
| 77 | Brixia Corse | Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo | 2 | | 1-7 | Rinaldo Drovandi | 1-7 |
| Gabriele Tarquini | 1-2, 4-7 |
| Claudio Langes | 3, 5 |
| 78 | Brixia Corse | Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo | 2 | | 1-7 | Carlo Rossi | 1-7 |
| Alessandro Santin | 1-7 |
| Giacomo Bossini | 5 |
| 79 | Albatech | Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo | 2 | | 1-7 | Walter Voulaz | 1-4 |
| Marcello Cipriani | 1-4 |
| Alessandro Nannini | 5 |
| Giorgio Francia | 5-7 |
| Jean-Louis Schlesser | 5 |
| Nicola Larini | 6-7 |
| 80 |  Q-Racing | Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo | 2 | | 1-4, 6-7 | Thomas Lindström | 1-4, 6-7 |
| Mikael Naebrink | 1-4 |
| Steven Andskär | 6-7 |
| 100 | Alfa Corse
Alfa Romeo Benelux
Scuderia Autolodi Corse S.r.l. | Alfa Romeo 33 | 1 | | 3-11 | Carlo Brambilla | 3-7 |
| Giovanni Maggiorelli | 3 |
| Luis Villamil | 4 |
| Alain Thiebaut | 5-7, 11 |
| Daniele Toffoli | 5, 7-10 |
| Giorgio Francia | 8-11 | |
Calendar
Drivers in Italics were listed as a driver in the car but did not actually drive that car in the race.
Notes and References
- FIA World Touring Car Championship 1987, Autosport, 14 January 1988
