For 20 years, specifically in 1991, Mazda surprised friends and strangers to winning one of the victories out of prognosis in the history of the 24 hours of Le Mans. The first and only victory of a Japanese in the French test car and the most successful sport of Mazda in its history. The Mazda 787b also marks another milestone since its rotary engine also entered the annals of history the first victory of a proponent of this type and final since that beginning in 1991 he was banned.
The Mazda 787b got that reliability and regularity in addition to its lighter weight and better Centre of gravity of his propeller was imposed on the all-powerful Sauber-Mercedes C12 (with Michael Schumacher at the wheel of one of them), Jaguar XJR - 12, Peugeot 905 and Porsche 962. He says the legend, connoisseur of the reliability of the 787b, Takayoshi Ohashi, a simple slogan gave its pilots: attack as if proof was a race to 30 laps sprint. Almost everything said.
Upon completion of 24 hours, the 787b won ahead of three Jaguar XJR-12 with two rounds of advantage over the runner-up. The rest of competitors had been down the road. The Mercedes, large dominators of the edition of that year had suffered problems in the gearbox, the unity of Schumacher, while a water pump was left lying in the second unit, which was leading, in the absence of two hours.
Connecting rods and pistons and four-rotor connected directly to the transmission, without reducing the inconvenient inertia, the Mazda 787B's Volker Weidler, Johnny Herbert and Bertrand Gachot completed 362 laps at the La Sarthe circuit, a total distance of 4.923,2 miles at a speed average of 205,333 km/h. A victory with an aura special in the history of motor racing. David was Goliath.
To celebrate the anniversary, Mazda has decided to restore completely the 787b and will be on view during this edition of the 24 hours of Le Mans. Some lucky ones can see it live once again.
