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Here'a write-up about the 1991 Le Mans race...

1991 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 59th 24 Hours of Le Mans which was round 4 of the Sportscar World Championship 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 name. 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. 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 was painted in their standard blue stripes on white livery, #55 had an outrageous bright orange and green scheme and retained its sponsor who had been with them since 1988.

Though, not expected to be the favourite to win, the Mazdas started on 19th for #55, 23rd for #18 and 30th for #56, despite being the 12th, 17th and 24th fastest qualifier respectively. On the day before the race, realising the reliability of the cars from the Paul Ricard tests, taking advantage of its fuel economy and the favouritism by rival teams of cat.1 cars which was disappearing by lap after lap, this encouraged Ohashi to drop his usual conservative strategy in previous races and encourage the drivers of #55 to drive as if it was a sprint race.

As the race was underway, the #55 car was at third place with the #18 car behind it with 2 laps down, the #18 had a lower gear ratio setup meaning the car took up more fuel and was 20km/h slower. The #55 would by night, move into second place when the Mercedes-Benz C11 of Michael Schumacher who was driving then, Fritz Kreutzpointner and Karl Wendlinger would spin off and later pit in with a gearbox problem. By the 22nd hour, the #55 car would finally take the lead after the C11 of Alain Ferte was force to pit in with mechanical problems. Toward the last hour, Herbert was made to perform an extra shift, leading him and his 787B to win the race, completing 362 laps and covering 4932.2km. Mazda put their disappointment behind when their two other cars finished in the top tens, sixth place for car #18 behind three Jaguar XJR-12s and a sole Mercedes and eighth for #56. Herbert became so worn out that he had to be assisted out of the car and was unable to make it to the podium, leaving Weidler and Gatchot to take up the celebrations. He later in a magazine interview blamed a “dodgy” spaghetti he ate before his shift{fact}. The race was run without a hitch apart from a blown bulb at the headlights and the precautionary drivetrain change which was the only delay for the car[4].

Life after Le Mans

After Le Mans, both the 787 and 787B which did not win would resume racing duties, whilst the winning car retired from duty. Mazda, never seen as a strong championship contender as they only took part in the World Championship to be permitted to compete in Le Mans, finished 4th and 5th in the Japanese and World championship respectively, despite taking 3rd in the 1000 km Fuji race (a JSPC race). For the drivers championship, as the winning drivers were not regulars, none of its drivers managed to finish in the top 10, its highest scoring drivers, Sala only finished 15th and Yorino only finished 14th at the Japanese championship that was outclassed by the Nissans and Toyotas.

At the end of the season, the FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) outlawed the use of Wankel-type rotary engines in the racing series which it governed to solely allow cars with the 3.5L F1 engine to compete as they had concerns over top speed at the Mulsanne Straight a few years earlier. The 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans would be the last time the 787B would compete in international motor racing, with the Mazda MXR-01 which was based on the Jaguar XJR-14 and entered by Mazda the following year powered by a Judd unit without much success. Also it would be the last win for a car with Dunlop tires.

Despite the enormous success of the 787B and its Wankel powerplant, Mazda didn't fully exploit its historic victory through marketing campaigns and advertising. However it did strengthen sales partially for Mazda's road cars. In the United Kingdom, Mazda would release a special edition of its MX-5 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-7 were stopped in most U.S. states in 1996 (and in Japan in 2002) until release of the 2003 Mazda RX-8. The Mazda RX-8 utilized a new generation of the Mazda Wankel engine, dubbed "RENESIS" which uses side intake and exhaust ports.