1987 World Rally Championship

15th season of the FIA World Rally Championship 1987 World Rally Championship World Drivers' Champion Juha Kankkunen World Manufacturers' Champion Lancia 1986 1988 The 1987 World Rally Championship was the 15th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC). The season consisted of 13 rallies in the same venues of the previous season. The only alteration to the schedule was the move of the Olympus Rally from December to June on the calendar. 1987 marked the beginning of a new era for the WRC, as it was the first season driven without the powerful and popular Group B rally cars, seeing the Group A cars come to the forefront of the world stage and the institution of championships not only for manufacturers and drivers, but also drivers of production and two-wheel drive cars. Group A would remain at the forefront of the championship for ten years, where a new specification, World Rally Car were made standard in 1997. The FIA also changed the basic scoring rules for manufacturers although they retained the policy of having two rallies not count toward manufacturers totals. New Zealand and the Ivory Coast were selected in 1987 to count solely for drivers' titles. Martini Lancia proved most successful in adjusting to the new lower-powered cars, adopting the Lancia Delta HF 4WD, driven by Finns Juha Kankkunen and Markku Alén as well as Italian Miki Biasion. Between the three, Lancia would gather nine rally wins over the thirteen race season, dominating the manufacturers' race for the championship. Meanwhile, the three drivers split success between them, placing closely in the top three places for the drivers' title by the end of the season. Audi Sport retained both Hannu Mikkola and Walter Röhrl, although they could not duplicate the success of their Group B seasons, both placing well down in the drivers' title competition. Audi however did gain some points from others team running the Quattro. Clarion Team Europe with driver Per Eklund contributed 26 points to the work's effort while Mig Linz's entry, Georg Fischer added another eight, bolstering Audi's bid for second overall. The Philips Renault Elf team struggled through the season with the Group A Renault 11 Turbo. French drivers Jean Ragnotti and François Chatriot were unable to gain much success, with the highlight of their season coming at Portugal with Ragnotti's second-place finish. Volkswagen Motorsport followed their success of the previous season with Swede Kenneth Eriksson, the 1986 winner of the championship for drivers of Group A cars. Eriksson was able to place fourth overall on the season, beaten only by Lancia drivers. Volkswagen, lacking a major second driver, was surpassed by not only Lancia, but Audi and Renault as well in the manufacturer standings. Ford Motor Company made its return to serious competition by enlisting drivers Ari Vatanen and Stig Blomqvist, but struggled early on with the Sierra XR 4x4. The car was dropped, its replacement on the works team coming in the end of the season in the form of the redesigned Sierra RS Cosworth, which met with much greater success, challenging the dominant Lancias in the final three events of the season. __TOC__ Calendar Rd.Start dateFinish dateRallyRally headquartersSurfaceStagesDistancePoints118 January22 JanuaryMON 55th Rallye Automobile Monte-CarloMonte CarloMixed26593.45 kmDrivers & Manufacturers213 February14 FebruarySWE 37th International Swedish RallyKarlstad, Värmland CountySnow27408.15 kmDrivers & Manufacturers311 March14 MarchPOR 21st Rallye de Portugal - Vinho do PortoEstoril, LisbonMixed37603.50 kmDrivers & Manufacturers416 April20 AprilKEN 35th Marlboro Safari RallyNairobiGravelN/A4011 kmDrivers & Manufacturers57 May9 MayFRA 31st Tour de Corse - Rallye de FranceAjaccio, CorsicaTarmac24618.20 kmDrivers & Manufacturers631 May3 JuneGRC 34th Acropolis RallyAthensGravel36553 kmDrivers & Manufacturers726 June29 JuneUSA 15th Toyota Olympus RallyTacoma, WashingtonGravel44539.20 kmDrivers & Manufacturers811 July13 JulyNZL 18th AWA Clarion Rally of New ZealandAucklandGravel36590.34 kmDrivers only95 August8 AugustARG 7th Marlboro Rally of ArgentinaBuenos AiresGravel27596.54 kmDrivers & Manufacturers1027 August30 AugustFIN 37th Rally of the 1000 LakesJyväskylä, Central FinlandGravel52504.29 kmDrivers & Manufacturers1122 September26 SeptemberCIV 19th Rallye Cote d'IvoireAbidjanGravelN/A3831 kmDrivers only1212 October15 OctoberITA 29th Rallye SanremoSanremo, LiguriaMixed41561.11 kmDrivers & Manufacturers1322 November25 NovemberGBR 43rd Lombard RAC RallyChester, CheshireGravel48513.29 kmDrivers & ManufacturersSources:WRC 1987 https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1987/ 9 September 2025 eWRC-results.com1987 WRC calendar https://www.juwra.com/calendar_1987.html 9 September 2025 Jonkka's World Rally Archive Teams and drivers Team Manufacturer Car Tyre Drivers Rounds ITA Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD PirelliFIN Juha Kankkunen 1–3, 6–7, 10, 13ITA Miki Biasion 1, 3, 5–7, 9, 12FRA Bruno Saby 1, 5, 12–13FIN Markku Alén 2–3, 6–7, 10, 12–13SWE Mikael Ericsson 2, 13KEN Vic Preston Jr 4FRA Yves Loubet 5ARG Jorge Recalde 9 JPN Mazda Rally Team Europe Mazda 323 4WD MichelinFIN Timo Salonen 1–3, 10, 13SWE Ingvar Carlsson 1–3, 9–10FIN Mikael Sundström 2, 10, 13FIN Harri Toivonen 2, 10NZL Rod Millen 7USA Jon Woodner 7NZL Neil Allport 8BEL Pascal Gaban 12 FRA Philips Renault ElfFRA Renault Sport Elf Renault 11 Turbo MichelinFRA Jean Ragnotti 1, 3, 5–6, 12FRA François Chatriot 1, 3, 5–6, 12FRA Alain Oreille 1, 5POR Manuel Breyner 3POR Inverno Amaral 3POR Bento Amaral 3 DEU Audi Sport Audi 200 Quattro80 QuattroCoupé Quattro MichelinDEU Walter Röhrl 1, 4, 6FIN Hannu Mikkola 4, 6, 10SWE Lars-Erik Torph 2SWE Per Eklund 2, 9, 10, 13SWE Göran Åndberg 2AUT Rudi Stohl 3–4, 6, 11–12ARG Jorge Recalde 6ITA Paolo Alessandrini 6USA John Buffum 7GBR David Llewellin 12–13 GBR Ford Motor Co Ltd Ford Sierra XR 4x4Sierra RS Cosworth PirelliSWE Stig Blomqvist 1–2, 4–5, 8, 10, 13SWE Kalle Grundel 1–2, 5FRA Didier Auriol 1, 5, 12ESP Carlos Sainz 3, 5, 13PRT Joaquim Santos 3KEN John Hellier 4FIN Ari Vatanen 10GBR Jimmy McRae 12–13GBR Mark Lovell 13GBR George Donaldson 13 DEU Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V PirelliSWE Kenneth Eriksson 1–6, 8–9, 11, 13DEU Erwin Weber 1, 3–4, 6, 9, 11FIN Teemu Tahko 10 JPN Fuji Heavy Industries Subaru RX Turbo DunlopSWE Per Eklund 1, 4DEU Harald Demuth 1FIN Ari Vatanen 4NZL Peter 'Possum' Bourne 4, 8, 13KEN Frank Tundo 4CHL José Celsi 9 FRA Mercedes France Mercedes 190E 2.3 16V MichelinFRA Bernard Darniche 1, 5FRA Dany Snobeck 1 ITA Jolly Club Lancia Delta HF 4WD PirelliITA Vittorio Caneva 1–3, 6, 12ITA Alex Fiorio 1–3, 6–7, 10, 12ITA Giorgio Schön 1SWE Mikael Ericsson 6, 12GRC Giannis Vardinogiannis 6ARG Jorge Recalde 9ITA Gianfranco Cunico 12ITA Alex Fassina 12ITA Pierangela Riva 12 GBR GM Euro Sport OpelVauxhall Kadett GSI 16VAstra GTE MichelinSWE Mats Jonsson 2, 10, 13SWE Björn Johansson 2SWE Håkan Eriksson 2GBR David Metcalfe 2, 13FIN Rauno Aaltonen 4FRA Guy Fréquelin 5, 12AUT Sepp Haider 10, 12–13GBR Derek Bell 13GBR Malcolm Wilson 13GBR Andrew Wood 13FIN Pentti Airikkala 13 JPN Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe Mitsubishi Starion Turbo 4WD MichelinGER Robert Koch 2NZL David Offier 8FIN Lasse Lampi 10FIN Antero Laine 10FRA Patrick Tauziac 11 JPN Toyota Team Europe Toyota Supra 3.0iSupra Turbo PirelliSWE Björn Waldegård 4, 7, 11SWE Lars-Erik Torph 4, 7, 11KEN Robin Ulyate 4, 11 JPN Nissan Motorsports International Nissan 200SX DunlopKEN Shekhar Mehta 4, 6–7, 11ITA Andrea Zanussi 4, 6KEN Mike Kirkland 4, 6, 11KEN Jayant Shah 4GRC Stratis Hatzipanayiotou 6SWE Mikael Ericsson 7SWE Per Eklund 7NZL Paddy Davidson 8FRA Alain Ambrosino 11 FRA Rothmans Motul BMW BMW M3 MichelinFRA Bernard Béguin 5BEL Marc Duez 5FRA Patrick Bernardini 5 ITA Grifone Esso Lancia Delta HF 4WD PirelliITA Paolo Alessandriani 7, 12ITA Fabrizio Tabaton 12 AUT Funkberaterring Rally Team Lancia Delta HF 4WD MichelinAUT Franz Wittmann 8 Schedule and results 1987 World Rally Championship schedule and results Round Rally name Stages Podium finishers Rank Driver Co-driver Team Car Time 1 MCO Rallye Monte Carlo(17 January–22 January) 26 stages571 kmTarmac1ITA Miki BiasionITA Tiziano SivieroITA Martini LanciaLancia Delta HF 4WD7:39.502FIN Juha KankkunenFIN Juha PiironenITA Martini LanciaLancia Delta HF 4WD7:40.493FRG Walter RöhrlFRG Christian GeistdörferFRG Audi SportAudi 200 Quattro7:44.00 2 SWE Swedish Rally(13 February–14 February) 26 stages400 kmSnow/Ice1FIN Timo SalonenFIN Seppo HarjanneJPN Mazda Rally Team EuropeMazda 323 4WD4:11.002SWE Mikael EricssonSWE Claes BillstamITA Martini LanciaLancia Delta HF 4WD4:11.233FIN Juha KankkunenFIN Juha PiironenITA Martini LanciaLancia Delta HF 4WD4:12.46 3 PRT Rallye de Portugal(11 March–14 March) 37 stages597 kmGravel/Tarmac1FIN Markku AlénFIN Ilkka KivimäkiITA Martini LanciaLancia Delta HF 4WD7:09.392FRA Jean RagnottiFRA Pierre ThimonierFRA Renault Sport ElfRenault 11 Turbo7:12.323SWE Kenneth ErikssonFRG Peter DiekmannFRG Volkswagen MotorsportVolkswagen Golf GTI 16V7:14.37 4 KEN Safari Rally(16 April–20 April) 83 controls4011 kmGravel1FIN Hannu MikkolaSWE Arne HertzFRG Audi SportAudi 200 Quattro3:39.442FRG Walter RöhrlFRG Christian GeistdörferFRG Audi SportAudi 200 Quattro3:56.593SWE Lars-Erik TorphSWE Benny MelanderJPN Toyota Team EuropeToyota Supra 3.0i4:31.09 5 FRA Tour de Corse(7 May–9 May) 24 stages619 kmTarmac1FRA Bernard BéguinFRA Jean-Jacques LenneFRA Rothmans Motul BMWBMW M37:22.302FRA Yves LoubetFRA Jean-Bernard VieuITA Martini LanciaLancia Delta HF 4WD7:24.383ITA Miki BiasionITA Tiziano SivieroITA Martini LanciaLancia Delta HF 4WD7:24.58 6 GRC Acropolis Rally(May 31–3) 33 stages538 kmGravel1FIN Markku AlénFIN Ilkka KivimäkiITA Martini LanciaLancia Delta HF 4WD7:25.572FIN Juha KankkunenFIN Juha PiironenITA Martini LanciaLancia Delta HF 4WD7:26.453FIN Hannu MikkolaSWE Arne HertzFRG Audi SportAudi 200 Quattro7:31.21 7 USA Olympus Rally(26 June–29 June) 42 stages540 kmGravel1FIN Juha KankkunenFIN Juha PiironenITA Martini LanciaLancia Delta HF 4WD5:59.242ITA Miki BiasionITA Tiziano SivieroITA Martini LanciaLancia Delta HF 4WD5:59.363FIN Markku AlénFIN Ilkka KivimäkiITA Martini LanciaLancia Delta HF 4WD6:00.06 8 NZL Rally New ZealandEvent not included in the Manufacturers' Championship(11 July–14 July) 36 stages593 kmGravel1AUT Franz WittmannAUT Jörg PattermannAUT Funkberaterring Rally TeamLancia Delta HF 4WD6:56.002SWE Kenneth ErikssonFRG Peter DiekmannFRG Volkswagen MotorsportVolkswagen Golf GTI 16V6:56.473NZL Possum BourneNZL Michael EggletonJPN Fuji Heavy IndustriesSubaru RX Turbo7:04.25 9 ARG Rally Argentina(4 August–8 August) 26 stages596 kmGravel1ITA Miki BiasionITA Tiziano SivieroITA Martini LanciaLancia Delta HF 4WD7:10.272ARG Jorge RecaldeARG Jorge del BuonoITA Martini LanciaLancia Delta HF 4WD7:11.283FRG Erwin WeberFRG Matthias FeltzFRG Volkswagen MotorsportVolkswagen Golf GTI 16V7:37.11 10 FIN 1000 Lakes Rally(27 August–30 August) 52 stages494 kmGravel1FIN Markku AlénFIN Ilkka KivimäkiITA Martini LanciaLancia Delta HF 4WD5:12.222FIN Ari VatanenGBR Terry HarrymanGBR Ford Motor Co LtdFord Sierra RS Cosworth5:17.543SWE Stig BlomqvistSWE Bruno BerglundGBR Ford Motor Co LtdFord Sierra RS Cosworth5:18.51 11 Ivory Coast Rallye Côte d'Ivoire(22 September–26 September) 29 controls3831 kmGravel1SWE Kenneth ErikssonFRG Peter DiekmannFRG Volkswagen MotorsportVolkswagen Golf GTI 16V+48.57 pen2KEN Shekhar MehtaKEN Rob CombesJPN Nissan Motorsports InternationalNissan 200SX+1:09.18 pen3FRG Erwin WeberFRG Matthias FeltzFRG Volkswagen MotorsportVolkswagen Golf GTI 16V+2:05.56 pen 12 ITA Rallye Sanremo(12 October–15 October) 38 stages529 kmGravel/Tarmac1ITA Miki BiasionITA Tiziano SivieroITA Martini LanciaLancia Delta HF 4WD6:09.192FRA Bruno SabyFRA Jean-François FauchilleITA Martini LanciaLancia Delta HF 4WD6:14.303FRA Jean RagnottiFRA Pierre ThimonierFRA Renault Sport ElfRenault 11 Turbo6:16.55 13 GBR RAC Rally(22 November–25 November) 47 stages539 kmGravel/Tarmac1FIN Juha KankkunenFIN Juha PiironenITA Martini LanciaLancia Delta HF 4WD5:26.362SWE Stig BlomqvistSWE Bruno BerglundGBR Ford Motor Co LtdFord Sierra RS Cosworth5:29.483GBR Jimmy McRaeGBR Ian GrindrodGBR RED FordFord Sierra RS Cosworth5:33.15 Championship for manufacturers 1987 World Rally Championship for Manufacturers Rank Manufacturers Event Totalpoints MCOMON SWESWE PRTPOR KENKEN FRAFRA GRCGRC USAUSA ARGARG FINFIN ITAITA GBRGBR 1 ITA Lancia 20 (17) 20 - (17) 20 20 20 20 20 (20) 140 2 FRG Audi 14 6 8 20 - 14 - - 12 - 8 82 3 FRA Renault 8 - 17 - 12 10 - 10 - 14 - 71 4 FRG Volkswagen 10 4 14 12 - 8 - 14 - - 2 64 5 USA Ford - 8 2 - 6 - - - 17 12 17 62 6 JPN Mazda 12 20 - - - - 12 - 8 - - 52 7 JPN Toyota - - - 14 - - 8 - - - - 22 8 FRG BMW - - - - 20 - - - - - - 20 9 FRG Opel - - - 2 - - - - - 8 6 16 10 JPN Subaru 1 - - 10 - - - - - - 1 12 11 JPN Nissan - - - 4 - 1 4 - - - - 9 12 ITA Fiat - - 1 - - - - 4 - - - 5 1987 World Rally Championship point awards for manufacturers Points awarded by finish 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 20 17 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 1 Championship for drivers 1987 World Rally Championship for Drivers Rank Driver Event Totalpoints MCOMON SWESWE PRTPOR KENKEN FRAFRA GRCGRC USAUSA NZLNZL ARGARG FINFIN Ivory CoastCIV ITAITA GBRGBR 1 FIN Juha Kankkunen 15 12 10 - - 15 20 - - 8 - - 20 100 2 ITA Miki Biasion 20 - 3 - 12 4 15 - 20 - - 20 - 94 3 FIN Markku Alén - 8 20 - - 20 12 - - 20 - - 8 88 4 SWE Kenneth Eriksson 8 3 12 - - - - 15 10 - 20 - 2 70 5 FRA Jean Ragnotti 6 - 15 - 10 8 - - - - - 12 - 51 6 FRG Erwin Weber 4 - - 10 - 6 - - 12 - 12 - - 44 7 SWE Stig Blomqvist - 6 - - - - - - - 12 - - 15 33 8 FIN Hannu Mikkola - - - 20 - 12 - - - - - - - 32 9 ARG Jorge Recalde - - 1 - - 10 4 - 16 - - - - 30 10 SWE Mikael Ericsson - 15 - - - - - - - - - 3 10 28 11FRG Walter Röhrl 12 - - 15 - - - - - - - - - 27 12 SWE Per Eklund 1 4 - 8 - - 2 - - 10 - - - 25 13 FRA François Chatriot 3 - 8 - 8 3 - - - - - - - 22 14 FIN Timo Salonen - 20 - - - - - - - - - - - 20 FRA Bernard Béguin - - - - 20 - - - - - - - - 20 AUT Franz Wittmann - - - - - - - 20 - - - - - 20 17 SWE Ingvar Carlsson 10 10 - - - - - - - - - - - 20 18 KEN Shekhar Mehta - - - - - - 3 - - - 15 - - 18 19 FIN Ari Vatanen - - - 1 - - - - - 15 - - - 16 20 FRA Yves Loubet - - - - 15 - - - - - - - - 15 FRA Bruno Saby - - - - - - - - - - - 15 - 15 22 FRA Didier Auriol - - - - 3 - - - - - - 10 - 13 23 SWE Lars-Erik Torph - - - 12 - - - - - - - - - 12 NZL 'Possum' Bourne - - - - - - - 12 - - - - - 12 GBR Jimmy McRae - - - - - - - - - - - - 12 12 26 NZL Rod Millen - - - - - - 10 - - - - - - 10 NZL Tony Teesdale - - - - - - - 10 - - - - - 10 FRA Patrick Tauziac - - - - - - - - - - 10 - - 10 29 ITA Paolo Alessandrini - - - - - - 8 - - - - 2 - 10 30 AUT Rudi Stohl - - 4 4 - 2 - - - - - - - 10 31 AUS David Officer - - - - - - - 8 - - - - - 8 ARG Gabriel Raies - - - - - - - - 8 - - - - 8 FRA Patrick Copetti - - - - - - - - - - 8 - - 8 ITA Fabrizio Tabaton - - - - - - - - - - - 8 - 8 35 ESP Carlos Sainz - - - - 4 - - - - - - - 3 7 36 AUT Georg Fischer - - 6 - - - - - - - - - - 6 KEN Robin Ulyate - - - 6 - - - - - - - - - 6 BEL Marc Duez - - - - 6 - - - - - - - - 6 SWE Björn Waldegård - - - - - - 6 - - - - - - 6 NZL Ken Adamson - - - - - - - 6 - - - - - 6 BRA Paulo Lemos - - - - - - - - 6 - - - - 6 SWE Thorbjörn Edling - - - - - - - - - 6 - - - 6 FRA Adolphe Choteau - - - - - - - - - - 6 - - 6 FRA Guy Fréquelin - - - - - - - - - - - 6 - 6 GBR David Llewellin - - - - - - - - - - - - 6 6 46 NZL Stuart Weeber - - - - - - - 4 - - - - - 4 BRA Jorge Fleck - - - - - - - - 4 - - - - 4 FIN Sebastian Lindholm - - - - - - - - - 4 - - - 4 FRA Martial Yacé - - - - - - - - - - 4 - - 4 ITA Alex Fiorio - - - - - - - - - - - 4 - 4 SWE Mats Jonsson - - - - - - - - - - - - 4 4 52 KEN Mike Kirkland - - - 3 - 1 - - - - - - - 4 53 NZL Simon Davies - - - - - - - 3 - - - - - 3 ARG Jorge Bescham - - - - - - - - 3 - - - - 3 FIN Tomi Palmqvist - - - - - - - - - 3 - - - 3 ITA Alessandro Molino - - - - - - - - - - 3 - - 3 57 SWE Erik Johansson - 1 - - - - - - - 2 - - - 3 58 FRA Bertrand Balas 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - 2 SWE Bror Danielsson - 2 - - - - - - - - - - - 2 PRT Joaquim Santos - - 2 - - - - - - - - - - 2 FIN Rauno Aaltonen - - - 2 - - - - - - - - - 2 FRA Alain Oreille - - - - 2 - - - - - - - - 2 JPN Kouichi Hazu - - - - - - - 2 - - - - - 2 ARG Ernesto Soto - - - - - - - - 2 - - - - 2 FIN Fredrik Donner - - - - - - - - - - 2 - - 2 66 FRA Laurent Poggi - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - 1 NZL Clive Smith - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - 1 NZL Grant Goile - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - 1 CHL Alejandro Schmauk - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - 1 FIN Timo Heinonen - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - 1 Ivory Coast Lambert Kouame - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - 1 AUT Sepp Haider - - - - - - - - - - - 1 - 1 SWE Roger Ericsson - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 1 1987 World Rally Championship point awards for drivers Points awarded by finish 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 20 15 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1 Sources See also 1987 in sports External links FIA World Rally Championship 1987 at ewrc-results.com World Rally Championship Category:World Rally Championship seasons