For the start of the season Ducarouge was joined at Lotus by Ayrton Senna. At the Portuguese Grand Prix held at a torrential Estoril, Senna would score his maiden win in a Ducarouge Lotus 97T. This was to be the first of seven and culminated in the 1987 victory in Detroit. His 1987 car, the Lotus 99T was the first Formula One car to be fitted with a computer-controlled active suspension system. Also, after four seasons of using the turbocharged Renault V6 engine, the 99T would use the powerful Honda V6 turbo. Senna, growing increasingly dissatisfied with Lotus' ability to build a championship contending car, would by the end of the season be unkindly referring to the 99T as nothing more than a 98T (the teams car) with a Honda engine instead of a Renault. The 99T was also visually more bulky than its competitors from Williams, Ferrari and McLaren.