The
Mazda 787 and its derivative
787B were
Group CGroup C was a category of motorsport, introduced by the FIA in 1982 for sports car racing, along with Group A for touring cars and Group B for GTs....
sports prototypeA sports prototype is a form of racing car that is used as a top category in sports car racing. These cars are purpose-built racing cars, commonly referred to as simply prototypes, differ from street-legal and production-based racing cars that also compete in sports car racing.Prototype racing...
racing carsAutomobile racing is a motorsport involving racing cars. It is one of the world's most watched television sports.- The beginning of racing:...
built by
Mazdais a Japanese automotive manufacturer based in Hiroshima, Japan.During 2007, Mazda produced almost 1.3 million vehicles for global sales...
for use in the
World Sportscar ChampionshipThe World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance and road racing events in Europe and North America with dozens of gentleman drivers at the grid,...
,
All Japan Sports Prototype ChampionshipThe , abbreviated as JSPC, formed by the Japanese Automobile Federation, was a domestic championship which took place in Japan for Group C and IMSA GTP prototype cars and also featured cars that were eligible for touring car racing in its earlier years...
, as well as the
24 Hours of Le MansThe 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, Sarthe, France...
from 1990 to 1991. Designed to combine a mixture of the
Fédération Internationale du Sport AutomobileThe Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile was the governing body for motor racing events. The organisation's origins date from 1922, when the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile delegated the organisation of automobile racing to the CSI , an autonomous committee that would later...
(FISA)
Group CGroup C was a category of motorsport, introduced by the FIA in 1982 for sports car racing, along with Group A for touring cars and Group B for GTs....
regulations with the
International Motor Sports AssociationThe International Motor Sports Association is an American auto racing sanctioning body based in Braselton, Georgia. It was started by John Bishop, a former employee of SCCA , and his wife Peggy in 1969 with help from Bill France, Sr...
(IMSA)
GTPIMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States and occasionally in Canada.-History:...
regulations, the 787s were the last
Wankel rotary-poweredThe Wankel engine is a type of internal combustion engine which uses a rotary design to convert pressure into a rotating motion instead of using reciprocating pistons. Its four-stroke cycle takes place in a space between the inside of an oval-like epitrochoid-shaped housing and a rotor that is...
racing cars to compete in the World and Japanese championships, using Mazda's R26B engine.
Although the 787 and 787B lacked the single lap pace of World Championship competitors such as
Mercedes-BenzMercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of luxury automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. It is currently a division of the parent company, Daimler AG , after previously being owned by Daimler-Benz...
, Jaguar, and
PorschePorsche SE is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury high performance automobiles, which is majority-owned by the Piëch and Porsche families. Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG , often shortened to Porsche AG, is responsible and manufacturer of the Porsche automobile line...
, as well Japanese Championship competitors
Nissan, shortened to Nissan, is a multinational automaker headquartered in Japan. It was formerly a core member of the Nissan Group, but has become more independent after its restructuring under Carlos Ghosn ....
and Toyota, the Mazdas had reliability which allowed them to contend for their respective championships. The reliability of the cars eventually paid off in 1991 when a 787B driven by
Johnny HerbertJohn Paul Herbert is a British racing driver from England. He competed in Formula One, winning three races, and also in sports cars winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1991 driving a Mazda 787B...
,
Volker WeidlerVolker Weidler is a former racing driver from Germany, best known for winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991.In 1985, he became German Formula Three champion....
, and
Bertrand GachotBertrand Gachot is a French-Belgian former racing driver.-Career:Gachot was the son of a French European Commission official. He began karting at the age of 15. In 1983 he attended Winfield School, a well-known racing-driving school in France. After this, he focused on his racing career, competing...
went on to victory in the
1991 24 Hours of Le MansThe 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 59th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 22 and 23, 1991. It was also the fourth round of the Sportscar World Championship.-Pre-race:...
. This remains the only victory by a
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese marque as well as the only victory by a car not using a
reciprocating engineA reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common features of all types...
design.
A total of two 787s were constructed in 1990, while three newer specification 787Bs were built in 1991.
Development
At its heart, the initial design of the 787 was an evolution of the
767thumb|300px|right|Mazda 767B Central Circuit, Hyōgo PrefectureThe Mazda 767/767B were prototype racing cars built by Mazdaspeed for the 24 Hours of Le Mans running under the IMSA-spec GTP class...
and 767B designs that had been used by Mazda in 1988 and 1989. Many mechanical elements of the 767 were carried over by Nigel Stroud when he designed the 787, but with some notable exceptions. Foremost was the replacement of the 767's 13J
Wankel rotaryThe Wankel engine is a type of internal combustion engine which uses a rotary design to convert pressure into a rotating motion instead of using reciprocating pistons. Its four-stroke cycle takes place in a space between the inside of an oval-like epitrochoid-shaped housing and a rotor that is...
engine. In its place, the brand new R26B was installed. The custom-built R26B featured a nearly identical layout and
displacementEngine displacement is the volume swept by all the pistons inside the cylinders of an internal combustion engine in a single movement from top dead centre to bottom dead centre . It is commonly specified in cubic centimeters , litres , or cubic inches...
, but included new design elements such as continuously variable intakes and three
spark plugA spark plug is an electrical device that fits into the cylinder head of some internal combustion engines and ignites compressed fuels such as, aerosol gasoline, Ethanol, and Liquefied petroleum gas by means of an electric spark...
s per rotor instead of the 20B's two. This allowed for a maximum power output of .
PorschePorsche SE is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury high performance automobiles, which is majority-owned by the Piëch and Porsche families. Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG , often shortened to Porsche AG, is responsible and manufacturer of the Porsche automobile line...
's five-speed gearbox was retained.
Other modifications made to the 787's design included a relocation of the
radiatorRadiators are used for cooling internal combustion engines, chiefly in automobiles but also in piston-engined aircraft, railway locomotives, motorcycles, stationary generating plant or any similar use of such an engine....
s. Initially placed beside the cockpit on the 767, a new single radiator was integrated into the nose of the 787. Air would flow from the blunt nose of the car, underneath the bodywork and through the radiator, before exiting at the top of the nose. A
Gurney flapThe Gurney Flap is a small flat tab projecting from the trailing edge of a wing. Typically it is set at a right angle to the pressure side surface of the airfoil,and projects 1% to 2% of the wing chord....
was affixed to the radiator exit to increase front end
downforceThe term downforce describes the downward pressure created by the aerodynamic characteristics of a car that allows it to travel faster through a corner by increasing the pressure between the contact area of the tire and the road surface, thus creating more grip.-Fundamental principles:The same...
. This new radiator location also meant a redesign of the doors of the car, where the old radiator design had been located. The intake in front of the door and exit behind were no longer necessary and were thus not included, giving the 787 a smoother bodywork design on top. To aid in rear engine and brake cooling, intakes were placed on the side bodywork, immediately above the exhaust cooling vents.
As before, Stroud's monocoque design was built from
carbonCarbon fiber is a material consisting of extremely thin fibers about 0.005–0.010 mm in diameter and composed mostly of carbon atoms. The carbon atoms are bonded together in microscopic crystals that are more or less aligned parallel to the long axis of the fiber...
and
kevlarKevlar is the registered trademark for a light, strong para-aramid synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora.Developed at DuPont in 1965 by Stephanie Kwolek it was first commercially used in the early 1970s as a replacement for steel in racing tires...
by Advanced Composite Technology in the United Kingdom. Carbon fiber body panels were affixed to the two initial chassis that were built in 1990.
787B
Following the 1990 season, Mazda continued development of the 787 chassis in order to make improvements on its pace and reliability. One major development was the intake system for the rotaries. In the past, Mazda had developed variable length telescopic intake runners to optimize engine power and torque for varying rpms. For 1991, the system became continuously variable, rather than previous versions that had steps for different engine ranges. The 787B's onboard
ECUIn automotive electronics, electronic control unit is a generic term for any embedded system that controls one or more of the electrical systems or subsystems in a motor vehicle....
controlled the action of the telescopic intake.
Three new 787Bs were built for 1991, while the two existing 787s were also upgraded with the new intakes.
1990
The first 787 chassis made its competition debut in April 1990, at the second round of the
All Japan Sports Prototype ChampionshipThe , abbreviated as JSPC, formed by the Japanese Automobile Federation, was a domestic championship which took place in Japan for Group C and IMSA GTP prototype cars and also featured cars that were eligible for touring car racing in its earlier years...
(JSPC) season. For the Inter Challenge
Fujiis a race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s and hosted the first Formula One race in Japan in 1976. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and national racing...
1000 km,
MazdaspeedMazdaspeed is Mazda's in-house race and street car tuning arm. It began in 1968 as "Mazda Sports Corner", a tuning and racing operation run by Takayoshi Ohashi, who also ran Mazda's Tokyo distributor...
entered their 787 alongside an older 767B chassis, with
Yoshimi Katayamais a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from Japan. Katayama began his Grand Prix career in 1964 with Suzuki. He enjoyed his best season in 1967 when he won two races and finished the season in second place behind his Suzuki team-mate, Hans-Georg Anscheidt in the 50cc world championship. He...
,
Dave KennedyDavid Kennedy is a former racing driver from the Republic of Ireland. He was one of his country's first Grand Prix drivers, and is widely seen as having helped pioneer the Irish move into international racing....
, and Pierre Dieudonné in the new car. After Fuji, the second 787 chassis was completed, and the team departed for Europe to prepare for Le Mans. Tests were performed at the
Silverstone CircuitThe Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, England, named after the village in the former. It is best known as the home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted in 1948 and which has been held on the circuit every year since 1987...
in Great Britain and
Autódromo do EstorilThe Autódromo do Estoril is a race course in Portugal. Its length is . It was the home of the Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix from 1984 to 1996....
in Portugal to prepare the car's setups and test its endurance. A total of were completed over the tests.
Former Le Mans-winner
Jacky IckxJacques Bernard "Jacky" Ickx is a Belgian former racing driver who achieved 25 podium finishes in Formula One and six wins in the 24 hours of Le Mans.- Racing career :...
was hired by Mazdaspeed in order to prepare the two 787s, as well as an older 767B, for the race. Driver
Stefan JohanssonStefan Nils Edwin Johansson is a former Formula One driver from Sweden. Since leaving Formula One he has raced in a number of categories, including CART, various kinds of Sports car racing, and Grand Prix Masters.- Formula One career :...
joined Kennedy and Dieudonné in the first car, while
Bertrand GachotBertrand Gachot is a French-Belgian former racing driver.-Career:Gachot was the son of a French European Commission official. He began karting at the age of 15. In 1983 he attended Winfield School, a well-known racing-driving school in France. After this, he focused on his racing career, competing...
,
Volker WeidlerVolker Weidler is a former racing driver from Germany, best known for winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991.In 1985, he became German Formula Three champion....
, and
Johnny HerbertJohn Paul Herbert is a British racing driver from England. He competed in Formula One, winning three races, and also in sports cars winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1991 driving a Mazda 787B...
were hired for the second entry. The all-Japanese line-up of Katayama,
Yojiro Teradais a Japanese racing driver from Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture. He is known for holding the record for the most participations in the 24 Hours of Le Mans without winning, having run on 29 occasions since . He is also third behind Henri Pescarolo and Bob Wollek for the drivers with the most participations...
, and Takashi Yorino remained in the 767B. For qualifying the new 787s outpaced the older 767B, setting the 22nd and 23rd fastest lap times, ahead of the 767B's 34th fastest time.
The two 787s ran reliably for much of the race, lasting through the night until problems were encountered in the early hours of Sunday morning. While leading their GTP class, an oil leak on the #201 entry for Kennedy, Dieudonné, and Johansson forced the team to retire the car. Two hours later, the #202 787 was also retired after an electrical failure and fire. Heat from the 787's R26B powerplant would be blamed as the cause behind both failures. The sole remaining 767B, the only car remaining in its class, survived until the end of the race and earned a 20th place finish.
Following Le Mans, Mazdaspeed fully retired the remaining 767B from competition. Two 787s would be entered for the rest of the JSPC season, with the Japanese trio of drivers in one entry, and Kennedy and Dieudonné remaining in the other. Returning to Fuji, the 787s earned fifth and tenth place finishes in a 500 km event, although the fifth place finisher would later be disqualified due to a
fuel cellA fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that produces electricity from a replenishable fuel tank. The electricity is generated through the reaction, triggered in the presence of an electrolyte, between the fuel and an oxidant . The reactants flow into the cell, and the reaction products flow out of...
which was too large. Tenth place would again be earned at the 1000 km of Suzuka, although the all-Japanese entry retired after an engine failure. A similar result occurred at
Sugois a motorsports facility located in the town of Murata, Shibata District, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It opened in 1975 and is one of the largest motorsports facilities in Japan, with a total area of 2.1 million m²...
, except it was the Japanese squad which finished eleventh while the international squad had an engine failure.
To close out the season, Mazdaspeed brought a 767B out of retirement, and entered it alongside the two 787s for the final 1000 km of Fuji. The 767B was the victor of the trio, earning a sixth place finish ahead of a 787's seventh. Once again, the other 787 retired following a transmission failure. Mazdaspeed's Yoshimi Katayama earned 25th in the Driver's Championship, while Mazda itself earned fourth in the Constructor's Championship.
1991
For the 1991 season, Mazda expanded their efforts with the 787. Two cars were assigned to the JSPC series, while a third car ran the full
Sportscar World ChampionshipThe World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance and road racing events in Europe and North America with dozens of gentleman drivers at the grid,...
season for the first time, with drivers
Dave KennedyDavid Kennedy is a former racing driver from the Republic of Ireland. He was one of his country's first Grand Prix drivers, and is widely seen as having helped pioneer the Irish move into international racing....
, Maurizio Sandro-Sala, and Pierre Dieudonné assigned to the team. The French
OrecaOreca is a French racing team, founded and run by Hugues de Chaunac, former team manager of F1 team AGS. Oreca has had success in many areas of motorsport since the early 90s, running the works BMW operation in the French Supertouring Championship, winning the FIA GT Championship and the Le Mans 24...
team were put in charge of the World Championship campaign. Oreca and team consultant
Jacky IckxJacques Bernard "Jacky" Ickx is a Belgian former racing driver who achieved 25 podium finishes in Formula One and six wins in the 24 hours of Le Mans.- Racing career :...
were able to presuade FISA that the 787s should be allowed to run with less weight than their competitors, leading to FISA allowing the team to run the cars at rather than the standard required for the C2 class.
Unlike the JSPC series, FISA had begun to integrate regulations for a new engine formula in the World Championship which required all teams to use 3500 cc engines by 1992. Cars which met these regulations in 1991 became the top C1 class, while cars with other engines, including the 787, were reclassified as C2. The C2 class cars also retained the fuel consumption formula that Group C had been founded on, while C1 cars no longer required it. This meant that Mazda now had to fight for class wins within their new class. In the JSPC however, Mazda's 787s remained in the GTP class, as the sole competitors in the category.
The year started in Japan, with Mazdaspeed entering two older 787s while the new 787Bs were being finalized. Both cars suffered problems and were uncompetitive. Attention then turned to the
Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka Circuit for short, is a motorsport race track located in Ino, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan and operated by Mobilityland Corporation, the subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd..- Introduction :...
, where the debut race of the World Championship season was being run. The first new 787B chassis arrived alongside an older 787. The newer car, with Sandro-Sala and Kennedy, outqualified the older chassis driven by the all Japanese squad by only an eighth of a second, but the 787B was able to outlast several other competitors and finish in sixth overall, fourth in the C2 class, and earning Mazda points in the championship.
The 787B was retained in Japan while the European squad turned to Monza with an older 787.
Yojiro Teradais a Japanese racing driver from Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture. He is known for holding the record for the most participations in the 24 Hours of Le Mans without winning, having run on 29 occasions since . He is also third behind Henri Pescarolo and Bob Wollek for the drivers with the most participations...
and Takashi Yorino earned the new 787B another sixth place finish at the 1000 km of Fuji, while the European team finished seventh at Monza on the same day. A poor race at Silverstone added no points to Mazda's World Championship total before the team concentrated on Le Mans.
Following the team's Le Mans victory, Mazdaspeed returned to Fuji once more with a 787B, and improved their season results with a fourth place finish followed by another sixth at Suzuka A third 787B was completed by October, and the two cars finished in third and fourth places at the second 1000 km of Fuji. To end the season, the team finished in sixth at
Sportsland SUGOis a motorsports facility located in the town of Murata, Shibata District, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It opened in 1975 and is one of the largest motorsports facilities in Japan, with a total area of 2.1 million m²...
, earning Mazda fourth in the Consturctors' Championship, and Takashi Yorino fourteenth in the Drivers' Championship.
The European squad meanwhile continued to use the older 787, finishing in fifth at the
NürburgringThe Nürburgring, simply known as "The Ring" by enthusiasts, is a motorsport race track in Nürburg, Germany. It was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel, which is about south of Cologne, and northwest of Frankfurt...
and seventh at
Magny-CoursCircuit de Nevers Magny-Cours is a motor racing circuit located in France, near the towns of Magny-Cours and Nevers. It is most famous for staging the Formula One French Grand Prix, which has been held here between 1991 and 2008...
. The Championship then flew to Mexico City where Mazda finished ninth, before the season ended back in Japan. The two 787Bs of the Japanese squad replaced the older 787, and the two cars finished in ninth and tenth places. Mazdaspeed finished fifth in the Teams' Championship, and Maurizio Sandro-Sala earned fifteenth place in the Drivers' Championship.
24 Hours of Le Mans
The
59th 24 Hours of Le MansThe 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 59th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 22 and 23, 1991. It was also the fourth round of the Sportscar World Championship.-Pre-race:...
which was round 4 of the
World Sportscar ChampionshipThe World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance and road racing events in Europe and North America with dozens of gentleman drivers at the grid,...
was the first time the race took place at the entirely new pit complex much to the pleasure of pit crews and drivers, after several years of having to use the notoriously cramped area, which became associated with the
film of the same nameLe Mans is a 1971 action film directed by Lee H. Katzin. Starring Steve McQueen, it features footage from the actual 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race....
.
Mazdaspeed entered three cars and a spare, one of them was a 787 from the previous year, numbered #56, driven by Dieudonné, Yorino and Terada and two brand new 787B's. One of them was driven by Maurizio Sandro Sala who replaced the newly retired Katayama, Johansson and Kennedy numbered #18
(001) and the #55
(002) car of Weidler, Herbert and Gachot making its only appearance in its only race.
Unlike the other two cars which were painted in their standard blue stripes on white livery, #55 had an outrageous bright orange and green scheme in honour of a main sponsor, Renown, a Japanese clothing manufacturer who had been supporting the team since 1988 by providing all their clothing for the events.
The spare car was another 787 from the previous year and also qualified, but took no further part in the event.
Mazda was not the favorite to win, but the three Mazdas started on 19th (#55), 23rd (#18) and 30th (#56), despite being the 12th, 17th and 24th fastest qualifiers respectively. The new 3.5 litre cars were given the first grid positions, moving everyone else back by seven places. On the day before the race, team manager Ohashi decided to drop his usual conservative strategy and instructed the drivers of the #55 car to drive as if it were a short sprint race.
The decision was made based on the reliability of the cars demonstrated in the Paul Ricard tests, as well as the car's exceptional fuel economy, which meant that the carefully learned driving techniques intended to preserve the fuel allowance were no longer a critical part of the team's strategy.
In the early stages of the race, the #55 car made its way to third place with the #18 car behind it 2 laps down. The #18 had a lower gear ratio setup meaning the car used less fuel but was slower. The #55 would by night, move into second place when the
Mercedes-Benz C11The Mercedes-Benz C11 was a Group C prototype race car introduced in 1990 for the World Sportscar Championship. Built by Sauber as a successor to the Sauber C9, the C11 used the same Mercedes-Benz M119 5.0L Turbocharged V8 from the C9...
of
Michael SchumacherMichael Schumacher is a German former Formula One driver and seven-time Formula One world drivers' champion, and current advisor for Ferrari. According to the official Formula One website, he is "statistically the greatest driver the sport has ever seen"...
, Fritz Kreutzpointner and
Karl WendlingerKarl Wendlinger is an Austrian sportscar racing and former Formula One driver.- Mercedes Juniors :Wendlinger started his career in karting and in Formula Ford before entering the German Formula 3 Championship in 1988...
spun off and later pitted with a gearbox problem. It soon became obvious that the leading car had slowed down to preserve its fuel allowance and an air of disbelief spread around the Mazda pit as it became obvious with six hours to run that there was a chance of victory.
At the 22nd hour, fate took a hand and the #55 car finally took the lead after the C11 of
Alain FerteAlain Ferté is a professional racing driver. He is the elder brother of Michel Ferté, who is also a professional racing driver.Alain Ferté competed five seasons in Formula 3000 1985-1989.- External links :...
was forced to pit with mechanical problems. At the last pit-stop, Herbert asked to stay in the car, and went on to take the 787B across the finish line first, completing 362 laps and covering 4932.2 km ( both new records for the recently modified circuit ). The two other cars finished sixth (#18) and eighth (#56). Three
Jaguar XJR-12The Jaguar XJR-12 is a sports-prototype race car built by Jaguar for both Group C and IMSA Camel GTP. The car is famous for winning the 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans....
s and a sole Mercedes filled out positions two through five.
Herbert was so dehydrated that he had to be assisted out of the car and taken to the circuit's medical centre. As a result, he was unable to make it to the podium, leaving Weidler and Gatchot to take up the celebrations. He later commented in a magazine interview that some “dodgy” spaghetti he ate before his shift was the cause, but it is more likely that his drink bottle wasn't replenished when he chose to stay in the car for the remaining 40 minutes of the race. The replacement driver would normally carry his own bottle into the car during a changeover as they all had their own preferred drinks.
The winning car ran without a hitch apart from a blown headlamp bulb and a precautionary rear wheel bearing change on the driver's side of the car, when a regular check during a pit-stop showed it to be overheating slightly.
It seems logical that the secret behind the win was Mazda's commitment to and refinement of the same basic engine/chassis concept, including the drivers – whilst rivals Nissan and Toyota spent the era adopting and dropping new concepts, suppliers, engine configurations, drivers, and even teams.
Life after Le Mans
After Le Mans, the winning car (787B-002) retired from duty while the other two cars (787B-001 and new 787B-003) continued to race. Mazda would go on to finish 4th and 5th in the Japanese and World championship respectively, with a season high (besides Le Mans) 3rd in the 1000 km Fuji race (a JSPC race). As Mazda used different drivers throughout the season, none of their drivers finished in the top 10 in points.
At the end of the season, the
Fédération Internationale de l'AutomobileThe Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, commonly referred to as the FIA, is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on June 20, 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...
(FIA) outlawed the use of Wankel-type rotary engines as a way to sway teams to the 3.5L
Formula OneFormula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1, and currently officially referred to as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rules to which all participants...
(F1) engines that had become their preferred platform. The 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans would be the last time the 787B would compete in international motor racing, and the last win for a car with Dunlop tires. The following year, Mazda entered the MXR-01, based on the
Jaguar XJR-14The Jaguar XJR-14 was a sports-prototype racing car introduced for the 1991 World Sportscar Championship season.-Introduction:The 1991 season marked the introduction of the FIA’s new, and controversial, 3.5 Litre Formula which replaced the highly successful Group C category that had been used in...
and powered by a Judd unit, without much success.
Despite the success of the 787B and its Wankel powerplant, Mazda did not exploit its historic victory through marketing campaigns and advertising. However, it partially improved sales for Mazda's road cars. In the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, Mazda would release a special edition of its
MX-5The Mazda MX-5, also known as Miata in North America and Roadster in Japan, is a two-seater roadster sports car built by Mazda in Hiroshima, Japan – introduced in 1989 and now in its third generation.-Generations and overview:...
with the racing color and also a BBR (Brodie Brittain Racing) turbo conversion; the car is one of the most sought after special edition cars of its model. Long a proponent of the rotary engine, Mazda has maintained a rotary-engined road car for many years, though sales of the
Mazda RX-7The Mazda RX-7 is a sports car produced by the Japanese automaker Mazda from 1978 to 2002. The original RX-7 featured a 1146 cc twin-rotor Wankel rotary engine and a sporty front-midship, rear-wheel drive layout...
were stopped in most U.S. states in 1996 (and in Japan in 2002) until release of the 2003
Mazda RX-8The Mazda RX-8 is a sports car manufactured by Mazda Motor Corporation. It first appeared in 2001 at the North American International Auto Show. It is the successor to the RX-7 and, like its predecessors in the RX range, it is powered by a rotary engine...
. The Mazda RX-8 utilized a new generation of the
Mazda Wankel engineAll Mazda Wankel "rotary" engines are essentially a single family — they all derive from experiments in the early 1960s by Felix Wankel, a German engineer. Over the years, displacement has been increased somewhat and turbocharging has been added to great effect....
, dubbed "Renesis" which uses side intake and exhaust ports.
Of the winning drivers, Herbert would have a successful career in
Formula OneFormula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1, and currently officially referred to as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rules to which all participants...
, notching up three wins before leaving the championship in 2000 and returning to sportscar racing. Gachot would go on to drive at
Jordan Grand PrixJordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team is named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan...
before being given an eighteen months prison sentence in August for a
CS gasCS gas is the common name for 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile , a "tear gas" that is used as a riot control agent. It is generally accepted as being non-lethal...
attack on a taxi driver in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
; his place for the
Belgian Grand PrixThe Belgian Grand Prix is an automobile race, part of the Formula One World Championship.The first national race of Belgium was held in 1925 at the Spa region's race course, an area of the country that had been associated with motor sport since the very early years of racing...
was famously filled by newcomer Michael Schumacher. He was finally released after two months and had minor successes before retiring altogether. Weidler would compete in the
Japanese Formula 3000Formula Nippon is a type of formula racing and the top level of single-seater racing in Japan.Formula Nippon has a fairly long history, evolving from the Japanese Formula 2000 series begun in 1973 by way of the Japanese Formula Two and Japanese Formula 3000 championships...
championship, only to have his career cut short when he was diagnosed with
tinnitusTinnitus is the perception of sound within the human ear in the absence of corresponding external sound....
. It was recommended he should take time off to allow for an operation but he chose to retire from the sport and handed his seat over to
Heinz-Harald FrentzenHeinz-Harald Frentzen is a German racing driver most famous for his career in Formula One. At various times driving for Williams, Jordan, Sauber, Prost, and Arrows, he achieved three race wins before his retirement from F1 in 2003.-Early career:Frentzen was born in the West German city of...
. Of the non-winning drivers, Dieudonné would later hang up his helmet and become sporting director at Oreca, this time backed by
ChryslerChrysler Group, LLC is an American automobile manufacturer headquartered in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925. From 1998 to 2007, Chrysler and its subsidiaries were part of the German based DaimlerChrysler AG...
to help the
Dodge ViperThe Dodge Viper is a V10-powered sports car manufactured by the Dodge division of Chrysler LLC. Production of the two seat sports car began at New Mack Assembly in 1992 and moved to its current home at Conner Avenue Assembly in October 1995...
to score class wins at Le Mans by the late nineties and an overall win at the
24 Hours of DaytonaThe Rolex 24 at Daytona is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is held on a combined road course, utilizing portions of the NASCAR tri-oval and an infield road course...
in 2000. Terada, a veteran of the race since 1974, continued to run his Autoexe tuning business. He still competed at Le Mans, although without factory backing but showing no signs of retiring. The former F1 driver, Johansson, would return to
IndyCarThe Indy Racing League, better known as IRL, is an American based open-wheel racing series sanctioning body.The League sanctions two series, the premier IndyCar Series , whose centerpiece is the Indianapolis 500, and Firestone Indy Lights, the official developmental series of the Indy...
duties frequently competing in the race before returning full time.
The R26B engine would be used by Mazda in its
Mazda RX-792PThe Mazda RX-792P was a racing car built for the IMSA GT Championship's GTP category for Mazda. Its career was short lived, with only two cars running in 1992 before the project was abandoned....
for its premier
IMSA GTPThe International Motor Sports Association is an American auto racing sanctioning body based in Braselton, Georgia. It was started by John Bishop, a former employee of SCCA , and his wife Peggy in 1969 with help from Bill France, Sr...
category with limited success. The engine continued to be used in the GTS category, for the spaceframe FD3S RX-7 which would return to Le Mans in 1994, backed by Mazdaspeed. The livery would return again in 1995, when a rotary powered
KudzuKudzu, Pueraria lobata is one of about 20 species in the genus Pueraria in the pea family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. It is a climbing, coiling, and trailing vine native to southern Japan and southeast China...
, which was competing in IMSA’s WSC (World Sport Car), a category with different regulations than the FIA. This time they would start the race without the Renown sponsorship and in 1996 in the lower end LMP2 category which was the last time Mazda used the livery. Mazdaspeed would continue to compete in the race until 1999.
There are however many series that are not under the governance of the FIA, most notably Le Mans and the
American Le MansThe American Le Mans Series is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consists of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Teams compete in one of four classes: LMP1 and LMP2 for Le Mans Prototypes, and GT1 and...
(ALMS) and Le Mans Endurance (LMES) series. B-K Motorsport competed a Courage C65 LMP2 prototype in ALMS in 2005, powered by a Mazda tri-rotary; and painted in a yellow and blue version of the livery worn by the 787B.
Today the car is considered by Mazda and Rotary enthusiasts as one of the most iconic cars to come from Japan despite its non-Japanese origin. The 787B have been celebrated by every major toy and model company in and outside Japan. The 787B is considered as the most popular of the Group C cars and has appeared in several video games. Throughout the Gran Turismo series, the color scheme can be seen as a fictitious compilation of various Mazda paint schemes. In 2005, a factory-backed RX-8 used the Renown colors to compete in a 24 hour race at
SilverstoneThe Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, England, named after the village in the former. It is best known as the home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted in 1948 and which has been held on the circuit every year since 1987...
. A RX-8 Concept Race Car with Mazda 787b colors was featured in Gran Turismo 4, although this car is not the one that competed at Silverstone and is a fictional car.
Mazda keeps the winning car at the Mazda Museum in
Hiroshimais the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshū, the largest island of Japan. It became the first city in history assaulted by nuclear armament when the United States of America dropped an atomic bomb on it on August 6, 1945, near the culmination...
. At the same time, Mazda produced four replicas and gave one of them to the Le Mans Museum. The car usually makes appearances at the annual
SevenstockSevenstock is known as the largest annual gathering of Mazda rotary enthusiasts in the world. Attracting visitors from all over the globe to Southern California. The event is now held on-site at Mazda's corporate headquarters in Irvine, California...
shows, and has made two appearances at the Monterey Historics event in 1999 and 2004 and still bears a pair of small oval racing stickers behind the side windows, referring to its appearance at the 1999
Goodwood Festival of SpeedThe Goodwood Festival of Speed, commonly abbreviated as FoS and referred within the United Kingdom as the Festival of Speed, is an annual hill climb featuring historic motor racing vehicles that is held in the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, England...
, when it was reunited and driven by Gachot. The car also made an appearance at the Mazda Festa in Japan and crashed, denting the wing and damaging the tail lights.
Chassis/Body
- Body construction: Kevlar/carbonfibre composite
- Wheels: 18 in x 12 in front/18 in x 14.75 in rear Volk Racing Magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12 and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the earth's crust by mass, although ninth in the Universe as a whole...
AlloyAn alloy is a partial or complete solid solution of one or more elements in a metallic matrix. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may be homogeneous in distribution depending on thermal history...
(17 in x 12 in front/17 in x 14.75 in rear)
- Brakes: Carbon Industries outboard ventilated carbon discs and callipers (Brembo
Brembo S.p.A. is a manufacturer of automotive brake systems, especially for high-performance cars and motorcycles. It was established in Bergamo, Italy in 1961, and now operates worldwide....
steel)
- Lighting: 2 Cibie headlights on each side
- Weight: c. 850 kg
Engine
- Spark plugs: 3 per rotor
- Fuel system: Nippon Denso electronic fuel injection
- Battery: Pulsar
- Maximum Power: /9000 rpm
- Maximum Torque: /6500 rpm
- Instrumentation and Telemetry System by Pi Research
From the Mazda Motor Museum website, it claims the engine has a maximum output of , and a maximum redline of 10,500rpm. This setup was not used during racing for worries associated with reliability; also gearboxes at that time could not handle such a high redline in an endurance application without mechanical failures.
External links