MAZDA 787B is best known for its victory in one of the most prestigious racing tours "24 hours of Le-mans" in 1991 and for everyone's surprise, it was the first-ever victory for a Japanese Automobile Company in the Le-mans and the first victory for a rotary engine.
GALLERY
TECHNICAL SPECS
The car was built for racing that got a Group-C certification from IMSA (International Motorsports Association) and the FISA (Federation Internationale du sport Association)
ENGINE 2.6 Litre R26B, Naturally aspirated 4-Rotor Wankel-Rotary engine
TRANSMISSION Mazda/Porsche 5- manual gearbox.
KERB WEIGHT 850 Kg (1830 lbs).
MAX POWER 900 BHP, but limited to 700 BPH.
MAX TORQUE 620lb/ft @6500 rpm.
FUEL Idemitsu (A Japanese Petroleum Company).
DRIVE Rear wheel drive.
TIRES By DUNLOP, Front- 300/640, Rear - 355/710.
The actual engine was capable of producing 900 bhp at 10,500 Rpm but it was limited to 700 BHP at 6,500 Rpm, to meet the IMSA Regulations and GTC Regulations imposed by FISA to participate in the most prestigious racing tour " 24 hours of Le-Mans ". And ultimately these limitations improved the Reliability and the Longevity of the car.
PLATFORM Shared Jaguar XJR-14's platform
Mazda shared the platform owned by the legendary jaguar XJR-14 and the mechanical elements of the car were designed by "NIGEL STROUD" and ultimately, each rotor shared 3 spark plugs while every other rotary engine shares only 2 spark plugs per rotor.
BRAKES Carbon Ceramic Brakes
Of course, 787B was the first Mazda car to be featured by Carbon ceramic brakes which provide the car with a great braking power during every twists and turn of the tracks like "Circuit de la Sarthe".
EARLY YEARS
Mazda was in the racing world before they had built 787B, with the early Miata's and it was claimed as the most raced cars in the world. And as a matter of fact, Mazda is best known for its reliability and strength.
DEBUT 1990, 1000 Km of Fuji and 1991, 430 Km of Suzuka (6th place)
In the beginning, 787B participated only in Japanese domestic races like those two above. you may doubt that how the same car could have participated in both 430 Km of Suzuka and the Le-mans of the year 1991. Well, the 430 Km of Suzuka took place o April,14 and the Le-mans took place on 22, June. The time gap between these two races is considerable and it paid off the Mazda racing team (Mazdaspeed) at the Le-mans. The first race for the 787B outside Japan was the Le-mans itself.
787B Prototype was not the first car from Mazda to take a part in Le-mans. But they have also participated in Le-mans with the previous prototypes powered by Wankel-Rotary Engines, namely the 767's prototypes finishing in 17th- and 19th- positions at 1988 and the upgraded versions 767B's finishing in 7th- and 9th- positions at 1989 and this was a huge breakthrough for the Early cars like 767 and 787 which did not perform as expected. The reason for the losses was, 767 had oil leakage which led to its retirement and the 787 also had oil leakage that ultimately got the car in the fire. Then for the upcoming events, Mazda built another car learning from their earlier mistakes and the result was the ultimate race machine 787B. For everyone's surprise, new regulations were imposed for the 1991 season of Le-mans by the FIA's which was almost similar to the F1 (Formula-one) regulations. And teams like Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar were aware of these changes and got their cars ready to meet the regulations but not every team including Mazda were ready with cars that can meet these regulations. Fortunately, FIA's allowed a certain number of Group-C cars in the season, in which 787B was one.
787B getting ready for the race
The 787B was an upgraded version of the older 787 prototypes with the change given below,
COOLING SYSTEM - The cooling system was not up to the mark which resulted in overheating in the older versions 787 and 767. So, the team developed a Variable-length telescopic intake that was placed on the sides of the body, and to be precise, they were on the skirts of the car.
These modifications were proposed by the former driver for the team "JACKY ICKX".
BEAST ENTERS LE-MANS
NOTABLE DRIVERS Jhonny Herbert, Volker Weidler, Bertrand Gachot.
There were three Mazda's in the race with the numbers 19, 18, 55 respectively. The car with number 55 was faster than the other two cars with the top speed difference of 20 Kmph and the drivers were instructed precisely according to the behaviours of each car by Jacky Ickx and Hiroki Namura from the pit. The 55 numbered car was instructed to push harder which had a higher gear ratio than the other two cars. The drivers Volker Weidler and Johnny Herbert had driven the car So perfectly that the position was pushed from 19th to 2nd just behind the Mercedes team at 1st position with their bespoke prototype car "Mercedes Benz C11". All of a sudden, a fortune took place for the Mazda team which was, Mercedes Benz C11 had to slow down due to some mechanical issues that made the 787B (55) to find its way to the 1st position. All that hard work and Determination of the engineers from Mazdaspeed into the car finally paid off. The 787B had a glorious win with a lead of 2 laps ahead of Jaguar XJR-12. After then the 787B was throned as one of the most reliable cars in Le-mans because the car had no mechanical damage or issue but a fused Headlamps on one side which is not a very big deal after performing a flawless run with a distance of 4,932 km in total (362 laps)
EXHAUST NOTE
There may be engines that produce very loud sounds such as Chevy's LS3, Porsche's V10, Lamborghini's twin-cam V12 but Rotary engines are louder than those. The 787B does not just produce sound rather, It screams all the way it goes. Watch the 787B screaming all the way through the Mulsanne circuit
LEGEND COMES TO AN END
After the legendary victory in 1991, Lemans, 787B's were banned completely from the event. The FIA's imposed strict regulations in the event that replaced older engines with 3.5-litre engines that were similar to that of the Formula-1 engines. So, that the announced its retirement of 787B from Le-mans.
The FIA's regulations were strictly imposed that made the way for the retirement of Rotary powered race cars and a complete ban. The new regulations were similar to the Formula 1 regulations. ie... The older engines were replaced with newer 3.5-litre engines.
(The first and last victory for a Wankel-Rotary engine-powered car in 24 hours of Le-mans)
After the legend is banned from the race, Mazdaspeed needed to develop anew car for the 1992 Le-mans. So, they build MAZDA MXR-01 which was totally different from 787B's. Rather than using a Rotary engine, they used an F1 engine, which they had purchased from a British racing company.
THE LAST DAY ON THE TRACK
787B actually raced in few races but it was not as glorious as it was at Le-mans. It seemed to race in 430 Km of Autopolis finishing at 9th and 10th positions and that was the last day and the event it raced. And the very same day, FIA's imposed the new regulations that really was a Doom's day for the legend MAZDA 787B.
Straight after the last day, 787B took on to the OTARU CITY MUSEUM at Hokkaido, Japan and kept it on display for almost 20 years. Then the Mazda came into and brought back its asset like thing 787B to the Headquarters of Mazda on 18 Nov 2015.
CONCLUSION
787B is considered an underdog still because not all know its Reliability and Capability on tracks. The Screamings of the 787B will forever be in the hearts of every car lovers out there.
Written by: Porselvan M
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