| 1987 Australian Drivers' Championship | |||
| Previous: | 1986 | Next: | 1988 |
The 1987 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title contested over a single race for Australian Formula 2 racing cars. [1] The race, billed as the "Australia Cup for the 1987 CAMS Gold Star", was staged at the Adelaide Street Circuit in South Australia on Friday, 13 November 1987. [2] This was the first year that the championship had been restricted to Australian Formula 2 cars [3] and is the only year to date in which the title has been awarded on the results of a single race rather than a series of races. [4]
Australian Formula 2, sometimes abbreviated to AF2 or ANF2, is a "wings and slicks" formula racing category in Australia. The category is one of Australia's oldest, dating back to 1964. The current format of AF2 was introduced in 1978. Brian Shead of Cheetah Racing Cars and Garrie Cooper of Elfin Racing Cars were largely responsible for the development of the format, which was devised to suit the needs of Australian drivers, most of whom had little or no sponsorship and had to bear the costs of racing out of their own pockets.
The Adelaide Street Circuit is a temporary street circuit in the East Parklands adjacent to the Adelaide central business district in South Australia, Australia.
David Brabham won the race after a remarkable drive from grid position 38 after poor qualifying caused by missing almost all of practice with carburettor and electrical problems.
David Brabham is an Australian professional racing driver and one of the most successful and experienced specialists in sports car racing. He has won three international Sports Car series and is one of four Australians to have won the Le Mans 24 Hour sports car race, winning the event in 2009. Brabham won the American Le Mans Series in 2009 and 2010. He also competed in Formula One, racing for the Brabham and Simtek teams in 1990 and 1994 respectively. Brabham is the youngest son of three-time Formula One world champion Sir Jack Brabham, brother to Geoff Brabham and Gary Brabham. He is also brother-in-law to Mike Thackwell, father to Sam Brabham and uncle to Matthew Brabham.
While Brabham picked his way through the field the battle for the race saw Rohan Onslow and Mark McLaughlin take the lead after polesitter Arthur Abrahams was left on the grid with a failed ignition ballast restrictor. McLaughlin led for much of the race but his Elfin slowed near the end of the race and was swamped by Onslow then Brabham. With two laps remaining Brabham caught and passed Onlow and pulled away for a 1.7-second victory.
Arthur Abrahams is a retired Australian race car driver. He won the 1987 Australian Formula 2 Championship driving a Cheetah Mk8. He used the victory as a springboard to compete in International Sportscars in Europe and in American open wheel racing cars. He also competed in Formula Brabham/Holden for three years, debuting in 1994 and leaving the category in 1996. He was owner of the NRC International team in Formula Holden and before running Dale Brede amongst others in V8 Supercar's Development Series. In 2001 Abrahams sold NRC and stepped away from the sport.
Ian Richards and John Wise fought over fourth for much of the event but Wise slowed near the end of the race with Shane Flynn taking fifth ahead of Chris Hocking.
