Roberto Savioli reconfirms himself as R2000 class World Champion
The 1987 results are largely similar to those of the previous year. The R2000 Inboard Racing World Championship, scheduled for June on the waters of the Po River in Turin in the Murazzi area, in the enchanting setting of Valentino, is not held due to a group of environmental protesters who force the organizers to cancel the event just as it was about to start.
This race, assigned by right by the UIM to Italy as the nation holding the title, is proposed again in September, again on the Po, but in San Nazzaro d'Ongina (PC).
At the start there are eleven pilots representing three nations: in addition to the reigning champion Roberto Savioli who for the occasion brings to the race a new catamaran built by Renato Molinari with a Mercury engine, also defending our colors are Franco Clerici, Giuseppe Casanova, Arturo Bernasconi, Angelo Perelli and Virgilio Molinari. Also present are the Frenchmen Patrice Nicolas and Jean Paul Garnier and for Sweden the brothers Krister and Kjell Gahmberg and Jimmy Strandberg. The only competitors, at least on paper, capable of beating Savioli, are the pilot-builder Clerici, returning after the unfortunate accident of the previous year and more determined than ever with his catamaran powered by Mercury to win the title and the transalpine pilot Nicolas who has the winning complex (R.Molinari-Mercury) already owned by Savioli the previous year. Wanting to make a brief chronicle of the race, it must be said that Savioli wins the opening heat ahead of Bernasconi and Casanova while Clerici and Nicolas retire. Clerici wins the second heat ahead of Savioli and Nicolas while in the third, the decisive one, Clerici retires again. Savioli, without his most difficult opponent, wins the race (and the second consecutive title) preceding Nicolas and the very good and gritty Casanova.
Savioli's victory in the last fraction ahead of Clerici and Nicolas is now completely superfluous.
Casanova's performance was praiseworthy, with his Lucini-Alfa Romeo racer finishing fourth overall. Bernasconi, Perelli and Virgilio Molinari were unlucky, with their Alfa Romeo-powered boats suffering from some mechanical problems.
The performances of the Swedish drivers and the other Frenchman Garnier were disappointing: the gap was evident and mainly attributable to the fragility and low power of their engines, some of which were equipped with turbochargers.


Circuit and cross-country races
In the Italian Championship of the Entrobordo Corsa R2000N class (national) the victory of the expert pilot from Pavia Pier Luigi Brigada aboard a Clerici-Alfa Romeo catamaran with Selva stern drive is counted. Brigada, in his second year in this category, wins by force beating a host of opponents such as Bernasconi, Pecci, Muggiati, Casanova, Virgilio Molinari, Leidi and Marcandalli.

Moving on to cross-country races, it is worth remembering the umpteenth triumph of Antonio Pctrobelli at the 47th Raid Pavia-Venezia who with this victory (his sixth) equals the overall successes obtained by Augusto Cornetti. The champion from Padua won with a time of 2h 01' 39" (184.460 Km/h average) and also won the Coppa Theo Rossi di Montelera for the significant speed recorded on the Revere-Pontelagoscuro stretch (190.020 Km/h).
To tell a small but important anecdote, it must be said that in the final stages of the race Petrobelli's Celli-BPM hull hit a piece of debris (probably a log on the water's surface) and was damaged. Despite the huge hole created on the right boot of his large R°° class racer, the driver managed to finish the race and his hull, thanks to the timely help of some willing haulers, avoided sinking.