1987 IMSA - Road Atlanta

1987 was the seventeenth season for the IMSA Camel GT Championship. The series' calendar consisted of twenty-one race weekends.

January 31- February 1 - Sunbank 24 at Daytona
March 1 - Grand Prix of Miami
March 21 - Twelve Hours of Sebring
April 12 - Road Atlanta
April 26 - Riverside International Raceway
May 2-3 - Laguna Seca Raceway
May 17 - Firebird International Raceway
May 24 - Lime Rock Park
June 7 - Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
June 20-21 - West Palm Beach
June 28 - Road Atlanta
July 5 - Watkins Glen International
July 12 - Summit Point Raceway
July 26-27 - Portland International Raceway
August 1-2 - Sears Point Raceway
August 16 - Road America
September 6 - San Antonio
September 7 - Lime Rock Park
September 27 - Watkins Glen International
October 4 - Columbus
October 24-25 - Del Mar Fairgrounds

The Prototype (GTP and Lights) and GT (GTO and GTU) classes did not participate in all events. At the Daytona 24-Hour, Sebring 12-Hour and Road America 500, all categories competed together.

There are four IMSA categories.

GTO (Grand Touring Over) – These are production-based sports and grand touring cars with a displacement of over 3.0-liters. Teams have considerable freedom in the drivetrain, suspension and chassis design. Vehicles in this class include the Toyota Celica Turbo, Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro, Chevrolet Corvette and Porsche 930.
GTU (Grand Touring Under) – These are also production-based sports and grand touring cars, but have a displacement below 3.0-liters. They are constructed according to similar rules as the GTO entries. Cars competing in this category include the Porsche 911, Porsche 914, Nissan 280ZX, Nissan 300ZX, Pontiac Fiero and Mazda RX-7.
GTP (Grand Touring Prototype) – This division was introduced in 1981 for purpose-built race cars and is the fastest in the IMSA series. The vehicles are based on the FIAs Group C class. A variety of engines are used, including normally aspirated or turbocharged. Cars can weigh between 1,750 and 2,080 pounds, depending on engine configuration. The Porsche 962, Nissan GTP ZX-T, March 86G and Chevrolet Corvette GTP compete in this group.
Lights (Camel Lights) – This class debuted in 1985 and is also a purpose-built race car class. The engine size is limited to 3 liters and cannot be turbocharged. They weigh 1,600 to 1,800 pounds, depending on the engine type. Chassis are constructed by companies such as Spice, Argo, Tiga and Fabcar.

The fourth event of the 1987 IMSA calendar was the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Grand Prix for Prototypes. Teams competed in a 500-kilometer (124-lap) contest around Road Atlanta's 2.52-mile, 12-turn road course.

The start of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Grand Prix at Road Atlanta, and twenty-five Prototype competitors enter corner one for 124 laps of racing. Leading the field is the pole-winning No. 52 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette GTP shared by Sarel van der Merwe and Doc Bundy. Behind the Hendrick entry is the other front row qualifier, the No. 83 Electromotive Nissan GTP ZX-T of Elliot Forbes-Robinson and Hurley Haywood.

The No. 16 Dyson Racing Porsche 962 was driven by former open-wheel racer Price Cobb and James Weaver. Weaver started his 1987 campaign with Bob Akin Motor Racing and made his first start with the Dyson team at Road Atlanta. The pair was fourth, almost two seconds behind the pole-winning Hendrick Motorsports Corvette. However, the faster Corvette and Nissan retired. The Dyson Porsche passed Holbert Racing for the victory.

Finishing 12.374 seconds behind the Dyson Racing Porsche were the runner-ups, Chip Robinson and Al Holbert. Holbert is Porsche's North American Competition Director and has five Camel GT championships. Robinson joined the team this year after racing with Group 44 for two seasons. They shared the No. 14 Holbert Racing Porsche and started 1987 with a victory at the SunBank 24 at Daytona International Speedway.

Brothers Steve and Tom Shelton shared the No. 62 Shelton Ferrari Porsche 962. The brothers previously competed in a March. They skipped the season opener at Daytona and finished a distant sixteenth place at Miami. Steve joined Bob Akin Motor Racing for Sebring and finished sixth. At Road Atlanta, the Sheltons qualified 5th fastest. They benefited from the Corvette and Nissan retirements and grabbed the final spot on the GTP podium.

The Camel Lights winners were Don Bell and Jeff Kline in the Spice Engineering Spice SE87L. Finishing seventh overall and second in class, albeit three laps behind the winners, were Jim Downing and John Maffucci. Downing is the defending Lights champion. The duo co-drove the No. 63 Certified Brakes Racing Argo JM19 powered by a Mazda engine. After a challenging start to 1987, a runner-up result was their best finish after four rounds.

Another team to benefit from the retirements of Hendrick Motorsport and Electramotive Engineering was the No. 67 BF Goodrich Porsche 962. The Porsche was piloted by Darin Brassfield and Wally Dallenbach Jr., with Bob Wollek joining them for longer contests. Before the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Grand Prix, their best result was seventh at Sebring. At Road Atlanta, they started in the seventh spot and finished fourth.

Primus Motorsport fielded the No. 8 Porsche 962 with backing from MAC Tools and Mobil 1. The driver line-up consisted of the veteran Brian Redman, who joined the team after three years with Group 44 and Chris Kneifel. Kneifel's participation in the program will be limited by a commitment to the Trans Am series. Along with Elliot Forbes-Robinson, they finished third at Sebring. At Road Atlanta, the pair was fifth after starting eighth.

Electramotive Engineering was the only team campaigning the Nissan GTP ZX-T. Electramotive's focus was on the shorter sprint races, electing not to compete in the Daytona 24-Hour and Sebring 12-Hour events. Their first race of the season was at the Grand Prix of Miami, where they won with Elliot Forbes-Robinson and Geoff Brabham. At Road Atlanta, Brabham was replaced by Hurley Haywood. Their luck ended after fifty-seven laps with a clutch failure.

Sharing the No. 52 Hendrick Motorsport Chevrolet Corvette GTP were Sarel van der Merwe and Doc Bundy. Van der Merwe collected seven poles and two victories last season, driving the turbocharged V6 Corvette. After two DNFs in the opening rounds, the team skipped Sebring. However, the pair had reason to be optimistic at Road Atlanta, after winning the 1986 event and earning this year's pole. However, an engine issue caused them to retire.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	ENTRANT	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	GTP	Cobb / Weaver	Porsche 962	Dyson Racing	124	-
2	GTP	Robinson / Holbert	Porsche 962	Holbert Racing	124	-
3	GTP	Shelton / Shelton	Porsche 962	Shelton Ferrari	121	-
4	GTP	Brassfield / Dallenbach	Porsche 962	BF Goodrich	121	-
5	GTP	Redman / Kneifel	Porsche 962	Primus Motorsport	120	-
6	Lights	Bell / Kline	Spice SE87L	Spice Engineering	114	-
7	Lights	Downing / Maffucci	Argo JM19	Certified Brakes	111	-
8	Lights	Durst / Brockman	Spice SE86CL	Ball Bros. Racing	110	-
9	Lights	Mead / Cherry	Fabcar CL	MMG/Classic Shine	110	-
10	Lights	Canizares / Wolff	Tiga GT286	Ares Sports	108	-
11	Lights	Loring / Woodner	Denali	Z & W Motorsports	107	-
12	Lights	Schubot / Ludemann	Tiga GT285	S & L Racing	106	-
13	Lights	Rothbarth / Morgan	Spice SE87L	Spice Engineering	106	-
14	Lights	O'Neill / Rinzler	Argo JM16	Performance Tech	104	-
15	Lights	Higgins / McAdam	Fabcar CL	MMG/Classic Shine	102	-
16	Lights	Phillips / Katz	Tiga GT286	AMF Racing	65	Engine
17	Lights	Jacobson / Jones	Tiga GT286	Essex Racing	58	-
18	GTP	Forbes-Robinson / Haywood	Nissan GTP ZX-T	Electramotive Engineering	57	Did Not Finish
19	GTP	van der Merwe / Bundy	Chevrolet Corvette GTP	Hendrick Motorsports	51	Engine
20	Lights	Lanny Drevitch	Argo JM16	Auto Concepts	51	Did Not Finish
21	GTP	Leon / Leon	March 84G	Leon Bros Racing	51	Did Not Finish
22	GTP	Halsmer / Pruett	Ford Mustang GTP	Roush Racing	45	Did Not Finish
23	Lights	Tom Hessert	Tiga GT286	Hessert Racing	39	Did Not Finish
24	Lights	Gary Robinson	Gebhardt JC853	Gebhardt Racing	24	Did Not Finish
25	Lights	Ken Knott	Argo JM19	Bobby Brown Racing	18	Did Not Finish

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