1987 Road America

Round thirteen of the 1987 IMSA Camel GT series took place at Wisconsin’s Road America. The event boasted a strong field of fifty-three starters. But the race had more than its fair share of attrition much of which could be attributed to the wet conditions. The wet and unpredictable weather that impacted the race started with the first practice session of the event. Friday's practice was delayed by 30-minutes due to fog. There was rain during the second practice and qualifying for the front row took place in drying conditions. On race day, rain caused the start to be delayed and another deluge during the race resulted in a red flag. Due to these conditions IMSA officials changed the race to a timed event – teams were informed that the checkered flag would appear at 6:00 p.m.

The field exits the final turn and heads towards the Starter for the green flag. On the pole was the Electramotive Nissan GTP ZX-T driven by Elliot Forbes-Robinson and John Morton. Starting beside them was the Chevrolet Corvette of Sarel van der Merwe and Doc Bundy.

Dyson Racing's primary driver, Price Cobb, was joined by Johnny Dumfries for the Road America event. In 1986, Dumfries drove for the Lotus F1 team. The pair started ninth and navigated the changing weather conditions better than the competition to capture the win. It is interesting to note that Dumfries was born into one of Scotland's oldest aristocratic families and is the descendant of a British Prime Minister.

Starting on the pole was Elliot Forbes-Robinson in the Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo. Qualifying began in the damp and the track dried over the course of the session. EFR made the right choice of tires and earned Nissan's fourth pole of the season. Forbes-Robinson and Morton ran comfortably up front until they fell victim to a faulty coil which left Morton stranded on the course. The duo would finish seventh in GTP.

Al Holbert entered two Lowenbrau Porsches at Road America. The driver line-up consisted of himself, Chip Robinson and Derek Bell. The intention was to race only one car but to protect Robinson's points lead both cars started the race. The team finished second and third with Robinson and Holbert in the runner-up position to the Dyson Porsche.

Gregg Pickett and Tommy Riggins qualified and finished second in the Protofab Chevrolet Corvette. Initially they were classified third but a scoring error was corrected by IMSA. In the rain, their teammates Chris Kneifel and Paul Dallenbach proved to be the class of the field - scoring the GTO win from the twenty-second starting position.

The All American Toyota Celica Turbo was shared by Rocky Moran and Wally Dallenbach Jr. This paired qualified fifth in GTO behind their teammates Juan Manuel Fangio and Chris Cord. During the race Cord suffered a nasty crash but Moran and Dallenbach finished third in class.

The No. 30 Skoal Bandit Chevrolet Camaro was driven by team owner Buzz McCall and Walt Bohren. The pair started eleventh and finished fifth in GTO. Bohren had most of his success racing Mazdas winning the 1980 GTU title in an RX-7.

The long straights of Road America favoured the 3.0 –litre V6 turbocharged engine in the Rick Hendrick Chevrolet Corvette GTP. Sarel van der Merwe and Doc Bundy started second. The team was in contention until the heavy rains came on lap-39. These conditions led to the retirement of the car.

At this point in the season, Tom Gloy was second in the GTO driver standings. To support him - Jack Roush’s strategy was to put Gloy in the best placed Mustang at the half-way point of the race. This decision was made easier when Pruett jumped to an early lead. However, Pruett crashed and although the car was able to continue Mustang retired with Gloy at the wheel.

Roger Mandeville’s efforts in GTO were not as successful as the Mazda RX-7s competing in the GTU class. The three-rotor version of Mazda’s rotary engine produced approximately 450-horsepower. But this was no match for the V6, V8 and turbocharged engines used by the competition. At Road America he shared the car with Kelly Marsh and finished tenth in class.

In 1987, the Spice chassis took class victories at the 24-Hours of Daytona and Le Mans and captured the World Sportscar Championship. Spice Engineering was founded in the early '80s by brothers Gord and Derek Spice but folded in the mid-90s after ambitious plans to construct a Formula 1 car failed. The No. 01 driven by Kline and Bell finished second in GTP Lights.

Former Olympic Gold medal winner, Bruce Jenner, shared the No. 33 Roush Ford Mustang with Bobby Akin – son of IMSA regular Bob Akin. The pair managed a sixth place qualifying spot in the GTO class but retired after 50-laps with an engine problem.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	ENTRANT	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	GTP	Cobb / Dumfries	Porsche 962	Dyson Racing	81	-
2	GTP	Oscar Larrauri	Porsche 962	Brun Motorsports	81	-
3	GTP	Robinson / Holbert	Porsche 962	Holbert Racing	81	-
4	GTP	Derek Bell	Porsche 962	Holbert Racing	81	-
5	GTP	Weaver / Schuppan	Porsche 962	Bob Akin Motor Racing	79	-
6	GTP	Hotchkis / Adams	Porsche 962	Hotchkis Racing	76	-
7	Lights	Rothbarth / Morgan	Spice SE87L	Spice Engineering	75	-
8	Lights	Bell / Kline	Spice SE87L	Spice Engineering	75	-
9	GTO	Dallenbach / Kneifel	Chevrolet Camaro	Mobil 1/Mid-America	74	-
10	GTO	Pickett / Riggins	Chevrolet Corvette	Mobil 1/Mid-America	74	-
11	GTO	Moran / Dallenbach, Jr.	Toyota Celica Turbo	All American Racers	74	-
12	Lights	Downing / Maffucci	Argo JM19	Certified Brakes	73	-
13	Lights	Mead / McAdam	Fabcar CL	MMG/Classic Shine	72	-
14	Lights	Cherry / King	Fabcar CL	MMG/White-Allen	72	-
15	Lights	John Grooms	Royale RP40	Erie Scientific	72	-
16	GTP	Forbes-Robinson / Morton	Nissan GTP ZX-T	Electramotive Engineering	71	-
17	GTU	Tom Kendall	Mazda RX-7	CCR	71	-
18	Lights	Hessert / Katz	Tiga GT286	Hessert Racing	71	-
19	GTU	Johnson / Shaw	Mazda RX-7	Team Highball	71	-
20	Lights	Schubot / Ludemann	Tiga GT285	S & L Racing	70	-
21	GTO	Heinz / Kreider	Chevrolet Corvette	Quality Motorsports	69	-
22	Lights	Loring / Honegger	Denali	Z & W Motorsports	69	-
23	GTU	Bacon / Reed	Mazda RX-7	Al Bacon Performance	68	-
24	GTO	McCall / Bohren	Chevrolet Camaro	Skoal Bandit	67	-
25	GTO	Gentilozzi / Dismore	Oldsmobile Toronado	Rocketsports	67	-
26	GTU	Durkheimer / Torres	Porsche 911	Escort Racing	66	-
27	GTU	Oakley / Wallace	Mazda RX-7	Cumberland Valley Racing	66	-
28	GTU	Altman / Altman	Porsche 914	Altman Bros Racing	66	-
29	GTO	Earl / Millen	Pontiac Fiero	Dingman Bros Racing	66	-
30	GTO	Jack Baldwin	Chevrolet Camaro	Peerless/Hendrick	65	-
31	Lights	Petrilak / McDaniel	Argo JM16	Di-Tech	65	-
32	GTU	Greer / Mees	Mazda RX-7	Aspen Inn	65	-
33	GTU	Silberberger / Krueger	Mazda RX-7	Tyrolean Racing	64	-
34	GTO	Vincentz / Bauer	Porsche 930	Electrodyne Performance	63	-
35	GTU	Mandeville / Marsh	Mazda RX-7	Mandeville Auto Tech	63	-
36	GTP	Leven / Haywood	Porsche 962	Bayside Motorsports	61	Accident
37	GTP	Ganz / Moretti	March 86G	Buick-Momo	60	Accident
38	Lights	Durst / Brockman	Spice SE86CL	Ball Bros. Racing	59	Engine
39	GTP	van der Merwe / Bundy	Chevrolet Corvette GTP	Hendrick Motorsports	58	-
40	GTU	Bobeda / Robinson	Mazda RX-7	Primus Motorsports	58	Accident
41	GTO	Gloy / Pruett	Ford Mustang	Roush Racing	57	Accident
42	GTO	Taylor / Bupp	Pontiac Firebird	Bob's Speed Products	57	Accident
43	GTO	Cord / Fangio II	Toyota Celica Turbo	All American Racers	56	Engine
44	Lights	Winters / McKitterick	Spice SE87L	Whitehall Motorsport	52	Engine
45	Lights	Brown / Knott	Argo JM19	Amdek/Brown Racing	51	Engine
46	GTO	Jenner / Akin	Ford Mustang	Roush Racing	50	Engine
47	GTO	Lyn St. James	Ford Mustang	Roush Racing	29	Engine
48	Lights	Canizares / Wolff	Tiga GT286	Ares Sports	28	Oil leak
49	GTU	Max Jones	Nissan 300ZX-T	Alderman Nissan	21	Engine
50	Lights	Dentici / Pabst	Badger BB	Jefferson Meats/King	21	Steering
51	GTO	Gentile / Franchi	Chevrolet Corvette	Gentile & Franchi	20	Driveshaft
52	GTU	Kryder / Cory	Nissan 300ZX	Kryderacing	1	Engine
53	Lights	Phillips / Katz	Tiga GT286	AMF Racing	0	Accident

Copyright Notice:

All content (photographs and text) appearing on this website are the exclusive property of © www.zoompics.com and are protected under International copyright laws. The subject matter on this website may not be reproduced, copied, stored or manipulated.