1987 24 Hours of Le Mans

1987 24 Hours of Le Mans

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The 1987 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 55th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 13 and 14 June 1987. It was also the fifth round of the 1987 World Sports-Prototype Championship.

Track alterations

A chicane was installed in the middle of the Dunlop Curve, just prior to the Dunlop Bridge, in an attempt to slow speeds for sportscars as they went from the main straight to the Esses. The new chicane was also intended to slow motorcycles for races on the Bugatti Circuit.

Pre race

With the cancellation of the B Class, the race was the first in the history of Le Mans to lack any homologated class entries. The hiatus would last until 1993.

Race

Porsche 962C cars suffered from piston failure due to the wrong microchip fitted for fuel management, causing a lean mixture and burned pistons. The #17 car of Bell, Stuck, and Holbert escaped this fate with a new chip fitted, running largely uncontested to the finish.

Official results

Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of the winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).

Le Mans in 1987

Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Tyre	Laps
					Engine
1	C1	17	Rothmans Porsche	Hans-Joachim Stuck Derek Bell Al Holbert	Porsche 962C	D	355
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
2	C1	72	Primagaz Competition	Jürgen Lässig Pierre Yver Bernard de Dryver	Porsche 962C	G	335
					Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6
3	C1	13	Primagaz Competition	Pierre-Henri Raphanel Yves Courage Hervé Regout	Cougar C20	M	332
					Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6
4	C1	11	Porsche Kremer Racing	George Fouché Franz Konrad Wayne Taylor	Porsche 962C	Y	327
					Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6
5	C1	4	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Eddie Cheever Raul Boesel Jan Lammers	Jaguar XJR-8LM	D	325
					Jaguar 6.9L V12
6	C2	111	Spice Engineering	Gordon Spice Fermín Velez Philippe de Henning	Spice SE86C	A	321
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
7	GTP	202	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.	David Kennedy Mark Galvin Pierre Dieudonné	Mazda 757	D	319
					Mazda 13G 2.0L 3-Rotor
8	C2	102	Ecurie Ecosse	David Leslie Ray Mallock Marc Duez	Ecosse C286	Y	308
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
9	C2	121	Cosmik GP Motorsport	Dudley Wood Costas Los Tom Hessert	Tiga GC287	G	275
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
10	C2	114	Team Tiga Ford Denmark	Thorkild Thyrring John Sheldon Ian Harrower	Tiga GC287	A	272
					Ford Cosworth DBT-E 2.3L Turbo I4
11	C2	177	Automobiles Louis Descartes	Jacques Heuclin Dominique Lacaud Louis Descartes	ALD 03	A	270
					BMW M88 3.5L I6
12	C1	40	Graff Racing	Jean-Philippe Grand Gaston Rahier Jacques Terrien	Rondeau M482	G	260
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
13 NC	C2	127	Chamberlain Engineering	Nick Adams Graham Duxbury Richard Jones	Spice SE86C	A	240
					Hart 418T 1.8L Turbo I4
14 NC	C2	178	Automobiles Louis Descartes	Michel Lateste Gérard Tremblay Sylvain Boulay	ALD 02	A	236
					BMW M88 3.5L I6
15 DNF	C2	181	Dune Motorsport	Neil Crang Jean Krucker Duncan Bain	Tiga GC287	A	260
					Rover V64V 3.0L V6
16 DNF	C2	108	Roland Bassaler	Jean-François Yver Yves Hervalet Hervé Bourjade	Sauber SHS C6	A	257
					BMW M88 3.5L I6
17 DNF	C1	6	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Martin Brundle John Nielsen	Jaguar XJR-8LM	D	231
					Jaguar 6.9L V12
18 DNF	C2	123	Charles Ivey Racing	John Cooper Tom Dodd-Noble Max Cohen-Olivar	Tiga GC287	G	224
					Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6
19 DNF	C2	116	Luigi Taverna Technoracing	Luigi Taverna Evan Clements Patrick Trucco	Alba AR3	A	219
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
20 DNF	GTX	203	Rothmans Porsche	René Metge Claude Haldi Kees Nierop	Porsche 961	D	199
					Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6
21 DNF	C1	23	Nissan Motorsport	Kazuyoshi Hoshino Kenji Takahashi Keiji Matsumoto	Nissan R87E	B	181
					Nissan VEJ30 3.0L Turbo V8
22 DNF	C2	103	John Bartlett Racing	Tim Lee-Davey Robin Donovan Raymond Boutinaud	Bardon DB1/2	A	172
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.0L V8
23 DNF	C2	125	Vetir Racing Team	Jean-Claude Justice Patrick Oudet Bruno Sotty	Tiga GC85	A	164
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
24 DNF	C1	5	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Jan Lammers John Watson Win Percy	Jaguar XJR-8LM	D	158
					Jaguar 6.9L V12
25 DNF	C2	198	Roy Baker Racing	David Andrews Mark Peters Mike Allison	Tiga GC286	A	139
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
26 DNF	C2	101	Ecurie Ecosse	Mike Wilds Les Delano Andy Petery	Ecosse C286	Y	135
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
27 DNF	C1	61	Kouros Racing	Mike Thackwell Henri Pescarolo Hideki Okada	Sauber C9	M	123
					Mercedes-Benz M117 5.0L Turbo V8
28 DNF	C1	3	Brun Motorsport	Bill Adam Richard Spenard Scott Goodyear	Porsche 962C	M	120
					Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6
29 DNF	C1	32	Nissan Motorsport	Masahiro Hasemi Takao Wada Aguri Suzuki	Nissan 87E	D	117
					Nissan VEJ30 3.0L Turbo V8
30 DNF	C1	15	Liqui Moly Equipe	Jonathan Palmer James Weaver Price Cobb	Porsche 962C GTi	G	112
					Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6
31 DNF	C1	1	Brun Motorsport	Michel Trollé Paul Belmondo Pierre de Thoisy	Porsche 962C	M	88
					Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6
32 DNF	C1	29	Italya Sports	Anders Olofsson Alain Ferté Patrick Gonin	Nissan R86V	Y	86
					Nissan VG30ET 3.0L Turbo V6
33 DNF	C1	2	Brun Motorsport	Oscar Larrauri Jesús Pareja Uwe Schäfer	Porsche 962C	M	40
					Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6
34 DNF	C1	37	Toyota Team Tom's	Tiff Needell Masanori Sekiya Kaoru Hoshino	Toyota 87C-L	B	39
					Toyota 3S-GTM 2.1L Turbo I4
35 DNF	C1	62	Kouros Racing	Chip Ganassi Johnny Dumfries Mike Thackwell	Sauber C9	M	37
					Mercedes-Benz M117 5.0L Turbo V8
36 DNF	GTP	201	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.	Yoshimi Katayama Yojiro Terada Takashi Yorino	Mazda 757	D	34
					Mazda 13G 2.0L 3-Rotor
37 DNF	C1	36	Toyota Team Tom's	Alan Jones Geoff Lees Eje Elgh	Toyota 87C-L	B	19
					Toyota 3S-GTM 2.1L Turbo I4
38 DNF	C2	113	José Thibault	José Thibault André Heinrich	Chevron B36	A	18
					Talbot PRV 3.0L V6
39 DNF	C1	18	Rothmans Porsche	Bob Wollek Jochen Mass Vern Schuppan	Porsche 962C	D	16
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
40 DNF	C1	51	WM Secateva	Jean-Daniel Raulet François Migault Pascal Pessiot	WM P86	M	14
					Peugeot PRV 2.8L Turbo V6
41 DNF	C1	52	WM Secateva	Roger Dorchy Philippe Gache Dominique Delestre	WM P87	M	13
					Peugeot PRV 2.8L Turbo V6
42 DNF	C2	118	Olindo Iacobelli	Olindo Iacobelli Jean-Louis Ricci Georges Tessier	Royale RP40	M	13
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
43 DNF	C2	200	Dahm Cars Racing Team	Peter Fritsch Teddy Pilette Jean-Paul Libert	Argo JM19	G	12
					Porsche Type-930 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
44 DNF	C1	8	Joest Racing	Frank Jelinski Stanley Dickens Hurley Haywood Sarel van der Merwe	Porsche 962C	G	7
					Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6
45 DNF	C1	10	Porsche Kremer Racing	Kris Nissen Volker Weidler Kunimitsu Takahashi	Porsche 962C	Y	6
					Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6
46 DNF	C2	117	Team Lucky Strike Schanche	Martin Schanche Will Hoy Robin Smith	Argo JM19B	G	5
					Zakspeed 1.8L Turbo I4
47 DNF	C1	7	Joest Racing	Sarel van der Merwe David Hobbs Chip Robinson	Porsche 962C	G	4
					Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6
48 DNF	C1	42	Noël del Bello	Pierre-Alain Lombardi Gilles Lempereur Jacques Guillot	Sauber C8	G	4
					Mercedes-Benz M117 5.0L Turbo V8
DNS	C1	19	Rothmans Porsche AG	Kees Nierop Price Cobb Vern Schuppan	Porsche 962C	D	-
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
DNQ	C2	171	CEE Sport Racing	Slim Borgudd Tryggve Gronvall Andrew Ratcliffe	Tiga GC286	A	-
					Volvo 2.3L Turbo I4

Statistics

• Pole Position - Bob Wollek, #18 Rothmans Porsche AG - 3:21.090
• Fastest Lap - Johnny Dumfries, #62 Kouros Racing - 3:25.400
• Distance - 4791.777 km
• Average Speed - 199.661 km/h

References

• "FIA World Sports-Prototype Championship 1987 - 24 h Le Mans". World Sports Racing Prototypes. 2 October 2005. Archived from the original on 26 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
• "Le Mans 24 Hours 1987". Racing Sports Cars. 4 October 2007. Archived from the original on 10 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-10.