1987 Detroit Grand Prix

1987 Detroit Grand Prix
Race 5 of 16 in the 1987 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	June 21, 1987
Official name	6th Detroit Grand Prix
Location	Detroit street circuit Detroit, Michigan
Course	Temporary street course
Course length	4.023 km (2.5 miles)
Distance	63 laps, 253.449 km (157.5 miles)
Weather	Clear with rain showers later on; temperatures reaching up to 78.1 °F (25.6 °C); wind speeds up to 19.6 miles per hour (31.5 km/h)[1]
Pole position
Driver	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda
Time	1:39.264
Fastest lap
Driver	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Honda
Time	1:40.464 on lap 39
Podium
First	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Honda
Second	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda
Third	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG
Lap leaders

The 1987 Detroit Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on June 21, 1987, in Detroit, Michigan. It was the sixth Detroit Grand Prix. It was held over 63 laps of the four kilometre circuit for a race distance of 253 kilometres.

The race was won by Ayrton Senna in the Lotus 99T with its computer-controlled active suspension. It was the second win in succession for Senna after his victory at Monaco. The Lotus rode the bumpy street circuit far better than the competition allowing Senna to take care of his tyres and cruise to a 33-second victory over the Williams FW11B of Nelson Piquet with reigning world champion Alain Prost finishing third in his McLaren MP4/3.

Poleman Nigel Mansell, the only driver ever to lap the 4.023 km (2.5 mi) Detroit circuit in under 1:40 during qualifying, led the race until his stop for tyres, but soon after began to fall away with cramp in his right leg making it hard to push the brake pedal. He later said that he had almost retired due to the pain but managed to finish in 5th place, one lap down on Senna.

Prost tried to convince McLaren via the radio that his tyres were OK and he did not need to stop, but he gave in to orders and pitted for fresh tyres. It was there that Goodyear technicians discovered Prost was correct and he had not needed to stop, though this did not alter the call for Piquet to stop as Prost had a reputation of being easier on his tyres than most.

Senna's back-to-back victories gave him a two-point lead in the championship over Prost, but it would be a brief surge. Senna would not win again this year. It would also be the last win in the very long history of Team Lotus which began with their first win in the 1961 United States Grand Prix. The next occasion on which a car bearing the Lotus name would win a Grand Prix was the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, won by Kimi Räikkönen driving for the Lotus F1 team.