We've had a lot of threads here lately discussing Group A cars, so i thought how about a thread dedicated to the greatest touring car championship (in terms of everything put together) for these cars, the first World Touring Car Championship from 1987.
Plenty of things to discuss;
- Why did it take until 1987 for a world series for touring cars to first take place?
- Why after a year of planning, sponsorfinding (they had a series naming-rights backer) and hard work by the NZ-based Strathmore Group, did the FIA at the last minute decide to hand the running of the series over to Bernie Ecclestone, who straightaway undid all the hard work done by Strathmore, and decided to impose huge entry costs per car for series registration(aimed at weeding out the privateers for a manufacturer-only series), while at the same time barring any non-registered entries from scoring points or earning prizemoney....(though the individual promoters could still pay prizemoney to anyone, the money Brock earned from winning Bathurst helped save his team), and at the same time killing the interest the likes of Nissan had in competing in the 1987 series, leaving just Ford, BMW, Maserati & Alfa Romeo (who pulled out after the European part of the season anyway)
- I wasn't complaining, but how did Australia wind up with two rounds of the championship?
- Presuming the Eggenberger Fords ran in the same spec from their debut at Brno until Bathurst, why did it take until Bathurst for someone to query the legality of the cars? Sure there was a supposed underhand deal with BMW, but there were plenty of other private Sierra's, as well as the likes of Maserati & Alfa Romeo to kick up a fuss
- Why were the FIA & Bernie so keen on killing it from the start anyway. All we heard all year were rumour after rumour, like the series wouldn't happen, it would be stopped after Silverstone, and the biggest joke of all, the continued barrow-pushing of Procar, which effectively killed Group A off as a whole....despite the fact only the 1 Procar spec car was ever built!
But on a whole, despite the controversies, weren't we treated to some spectacular racing that year, in what ultimatly in my opinion was a successful series in terms of the on-track spectacle.
Every round featured big grids filled with a variety of cars, there were plenty of interlopers & locals (particularly at the British, Australian, New Zealand & Japanese rounds) who were competitive, and all who competed seemed enthusiastic about the whole thing, and were committed (along with new manufacturers like Nissan & Toyota) to the future of the series......just a pity the governing body couldn't have cared less about it as it may have taken some manufacturers eyes off F1 abit....
Time for some discussion
