After
the dismal 1986 season, 1987 could only be better. Earlier than last
year, there was clarity about the championship and it even had a title
sponsor in Dunlop. But that was about all the good news one could find.
There may have been interesting races, but so is the Renault 5 trophy.
The quality of the field was poor. Of course, Andy Rouse had built two
new Cosworth Sierras, but he had a WTCC program and was not able to
contest even half of the races, while his second car was driven by
sponsor Pete Hall, who was out of his depth in such a fast car. Graham
Goode built another Cosworth, but it was unreliable though he had one
win. The rest of the class A camp consisted of Rovers, some of 1986 TWR
quality but in private hands, some much older; in any case, the days of
the Rover were over but not in the UK. Class B then; the ARDT took a
brave move to enter two Turbo 75's, but they never went well and
Kirby's car was brought back to V6 specification before it was
totalled. There were some Escort Turbos, outdated and fragile, and late
in season Sytner brought the first BMW M3 to the grid. Class C
consisted of one Metro Turbo youngtimer, and Renault 5 cup cars - which
was a disgrace to the championship in my eyes.
The most professional team (apart from Rouse) was Chris Hodgett's
Toyota club, well-prepared cars in capable hands. Chris got the
championship, and in this class too there was lack of competition he
didn't even need full points to get a huge championship lead.
The races: |
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