Warwick Wins, Becomes Sixth Winner of 1987

Qualifying:

[table “” not found /]

Report:

Rain rewarded those who dared in the streets of this American city.

Miserable weather was predicted for the Detroit Grand Prix and the city more than delivered. With Friday being a complete washout, the only chance of some sensible running came on Saturday qualifying. This unusual situation took a number of runners by surprise and enabled a surprising grid, with Thierry Boutsen scoring a pole for Benetton-Ford, a very impressive run.

Once the race was actually on, though, the impressive driver was a Lotus one: Derek Warwick took control of the race at the start and never let go. Outside of a major error late in the race, long after he was out of reach of anybody, he drove flawlessly. He more than deserved to win the 1987 Detroit Grand Prix and therefore did just that in a breathtaking run.

Thierry Boutsen did not disappear of the face of this planet. Whilst he was not able to challenge the supreme Lotus 99T, he could secure second. Regrettably, he had to work extremely hard for that, having used up too much fuel in the final stint of the race. A pitstop on the second-to-last lap put him just behind JEV, but with fresh qualifying tyres, he was able to simply glide past the French star.

Williams continued to struggle, the rain not suiting their car. Both drivers fought for the lower points positions all race long, duking it out with drivers such as Chris Dagnall and Guillaume Gauthier before those men had to park their cars. In the final lap, the brutal fight at Williams came to a nasty conclusion, when Senna eliminated Cassidy with a silly move, turning a Williams 4-5 into a less pleasing 4-6.

Race:

[table “” not found /]

Fastest Lap:

Michele Alboreto – 1:42.527

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Derek Warwick – Smashed the competition, can he be a championship contender?

Reject Of The Race:

Ayrton Senna – Running into your teammate on the final lap is just unacceptable.