| Race details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race 2 of 16 in the 1987 Formula One season | ||
| Date | May 3, 1987 | |
| Official name | 7o Gran Premio di San Marino | |
| Location | Autodromo Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy | |
| Course | Permanent racing facility 5.040 km (3.131 mi) |
|
| Distance | 59 laps, 297.360 km (184.770 mi) | |
| Weather | Sunny, warm | |
| Pole position | ||
| Driver | Ayrton Senna | Lotus-Honda |
| Time | 1:25.826 | |
| Fastest lap | ||
| Driver | Teo Fabi | Benetton-Ford |
| Time | 1:29.246 on lap 51 | |
| Podium | ||
| First | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Honda |
| Second | Ayrton Senna | Lotus-Honda |
| Third | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari |
The 1987 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on May 3, 1987 at the Autodromo Dino Ferrari, Imola. It was the second race of the 1987 Formula One season.
Contents |
In Friday practice, championship contender Nelson Piquet was eliminated from the race after an accident at the Tamburello corner. A tyre of his Williams failed, which resulted in a violent impact against the wall. Whilst in his opinion he had only sustained a sore ankle, he was taken to the nearby Bellaria-Igea Marina hospital, and after medical checks he was forbidden to start by FIA Medical Delegate Sid Watkins.
Alarmed by excessive blistering and the suggestion that Piquet's accident may have been caused by a tyre deflation, Goodyear withdrew all the tyres issued to teams. A replacement selection was flown in and despite the lack of Customs officials due to an Italian public holiday, the new rubber was available for all teams to race on by Sunday.
Saturday's qualifying went on smoothly, with Ayrton Senna claiming pole position on his Lotus, with Nigel Mansell, on the second Williams, aside him in the front row. The second row was occupied by Teo Fabi in the Benetton and Alain Prost's McLaren; "home" team Ferrari took the whole third row with Michele Alboreto ahead of Gerhard Berger.
The race required two starts as Martin Brundle, Thierry Boutsen and Eddie Cheever stalled on the original grid. Satoru Nakajima started from the pit lane owing to a faulty battery, and René Arnoux failed to take the second start after the suspension of his Ligier failed.
On the second start, Senna led off the line but Mansell overtook him on lap two, at the Tosa corner, and went on to dominate the race. Prost got the second place overtaking Senna on lap 6; the Brazilian was then engaged in a battle with the two Ferraris, and got back second when Prost retired with an alternator failure on lap 15. Berger retired with turbo boost failure on lap 17, and by that time Alboreto passed Senna to take second place.
On lap 22, Mansell pitted early due to a loose wheel balance weight and for 3 laps Alboreto led the race. Senna retook first position with Alboreto's pit stop, then before Mansell returned to the front when the Brazilian stopped. Riccardo Patrese in a Brabham was now holding second place but he retired when his alternator failed on lap 57. Simultaneously, Teo Fabi retired with engine problems. Fabi's race had been wrecked by front wing damage sustained on the first lap when he collided with Cheever, although his attempted fightback did produce the fastest lap.
Mansell took a comfortable win with Senna holding second after Alboreto's turbo experienced problems. Stefan Johansson was in fourth place whilst Derek Warwick's retirement (out of fuel) handed fifth to Brundle and first and only points to Zakspeed. Nakajima rounded off the points in sixth place, which meant he was the first Japanese driver to score a world championship point.[1]
Numbers in brackets refer to positions of normally aspirated entrants competing for the Jim Clark Trophy.
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Honda | 59 | 1:31:24.076 | 2 | 9 |
| 2 | 12 | Ayrton Senna | Lotus-Honda | 59 | + 27.545 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | 27 | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari | 59 | + 39.144 | 6 | 4 |
| 4 | 2 | Stefan Johansson | McLaren-TAG | 59 | + 1:00.588 | 8 | 3 |
| 5 | 9 | Martin Brundle | Zakspeed | 57 | + 2 Laps | 14 | 2 |
| 6 | 11 | Satoru Nakajima | Lotus-Honda | 57 | Out of fuel | 12 | 1 |
| 7 | 10 | Christian Danner | Zakspeed | 57 | + 2 Laps | 17 | |
| 8 (1) | 4 | Philippe Streiff | Tyrrell-Ford | 57 | + 2 Laps | 20 | |
| 9 | 7 | Riccardo Patrese | Brabham-BMW | 57 | + 2 Laps / Alternator | 7 | |
| 10 (2) | 30 | Philippe Alliot | Lola-Ford | 56 | + 3 Laps | 21 | |
| 11 | 17 | Derek Warwick | Arrows-Megatron | 55 | Out of Fuel | 10 | |
| 12 | 21 | Alex Caffi | Osella-Alfa Romeo | 54 | Out of fuel | 19 | |
| 13 (3) | 14 | Pascal Fabre | AGS-Ford | 53 | + 6 Laps | 24 | |
| Ret | 19 | Teo Fabi | Benetton-Ford | 51 | Turbo | 4 | |
| Ret | 20 | Thierry Boutsen | Benetton-Ford | 48 | Engine | 11 | |
| Ret | 18 | Eddie Cheever | Arrows-Megatron | 48 | Clutch | 9 | |
| Ret | 3 | Jonathan Palmer | Tyrrell-Ford | 48 | Clutch | 23 | |
| Ret | 8 | Andrea de Cesaris | Brabham-BMW | 39 | Spun Off | 13 | |
| Ret | 23 | Adrián Campos | Minardi-Motori Moderni | 30 | Gearbox | 16 | |
| Ret | 22 | Gabriele Tarquini | Osella-Alfa Romeo | 26 | Gearbox | 25 | |
| Ret | 24 | Alessandro Nannini | Minardi-Motori Moderni | 25 | Turbo | 15 | |
| Ret | 16 | Ivan Capelli | March-Ford | 18 | Engine | 22 | |
| Ret | 28 | Gerhard Berger | Ferrari | 16 | Electrical | 5 | |
| Ret | 1 | Alain Prost | McLaren-TAG | 14 | Electrical | 3 | |
| Ret | 26 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Ligier-Megatron | 7 | Handling | 18 | |
| DNS | 25 | René Arnoux | Ligier-Megatron | 0 | Suspension | ||
| DNS | 6 | Nelson Piquet | Williams-Honda | Injury |
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| Previous race: 1987 Brazilian Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship 1987 season |
Next race: 1987 Belgian Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1986 San Marino Grand Prix |
San Marino Grand Prix | Next race: 1988 San Marino Grand Prix |
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