On its third attempt, Erik Zakowski’s small German team finally manages to score a Formula 1 points finish. This could be the summary of the story of the third single-seater brought to the track by Zakspeed, but let’s start from the beginning. In 1987 as well, the German team West Zakspeed Racing succeeds in fielding two cars, entrusted to experienced British driver Martin Brundle and the returning German Christian Danner, who had already driven for Zakowski’s team in the final races of 1985.
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| ZAKSPEED 871, Martin Brundle Hockenheimring, German GP 1987 |
The first race of the championship in Brazil sees the two drivers at the wheel of the 1986 861 model, updated with a smaller fuel tank and an engine fitted with the pop-off valve, which cuts the boost pressure once it reaches 4 bar. However, already from the second Grand Prix, the new Zakspeed 871 debuts, initially assigned only to Brundle, and from the following race also to Danner.
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| ZAKSPEED 871, Christian Danner Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1987 |
The “871” deserves a special place in Zakspeed’s short but intense history. In fact, it is the only car that brought the German team a points finish in Formula 1, achieved in its debut race no less, the San Marino Grand Prix held at the Imola circuit, where Martin Brundle secured an incredible fifth place after starting from 19th on the grid. True, it was quite a chaotic race, with only ten cars reaching the finish line and the Zakspeed driver ending up two laps behind the winner, Nigel Mansell, but the satisfaction for Erik Zakowski was undoubtedly great and well deserved.
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| ZAKSPEED 871, Martin Brundle Spa-Francorchamps, Belgian GP 1987 |
As for the car itself, it was a rather direct evolution of the “861”, developed by Chris Murphy and Heinz Zollner, who had replaced Paul Brown, the designer of Zakspeed’s first Formula 1 cars. The two engineers didn’t change the chassis but worked on weight distribution and components, managing to significantly reduce the car’s weight, which now stood just above 550 kg. The wheelbase was slightly shortened, and the car’s appearance became notably sleeker, with less boxy sidepods, more tapering at the rear, and most notably, a significantly lower beltline. Despite promising design updates, the main limitation remained the Zakspeed 1500-L4 turbo engine, which, due to the introduction of new fuel consumption and turbo pressure limits, lost further power and struggled to exceed 800 hp in race trim during the season.
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| ZAKSPEED 871, Christian Danner Hungaroring, Hungarian GP 1987 |
After the explosive debut, the rest of the season continued to be an ordeal for Brundle and Danner, marked by frequent retirements and very few checkered flags. Nonetheless, the 2 points earned by season’s end allowed Zakspeed to secure 10th place in the Constructors’ Championship, ahead of far more renowned teams, Ligier, above all.
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