The special victory of the Wankel sports car Mazda 787B at Le Mans
Le Mans 1991 was a very special race. The Sauber-Mercedes started the 24-hour battle as the big favorite. Unfortunately, a small part, a small "bride" worth around €2, prevented a certain victory shortly before the end.
As a result, the Porsches should have decided the victory among themselves. But no, the Mazda 787B was the first and only victory for a Japanese car, powered by a Wankel engine.
Many a journalist and photographer would have longed for the failure of this "circular saw". The noise of this Wankel engine did not allow anyone to doze off or even sleep. If you wanted to escape into the land of dreams, after just over 3 minutes you felt like you were on a circular saw and were wide awake again on the spot. There was no chance to indulge in even a moment of rest. The sound of the turbos back then was similar to today's diesel engines. They were muffled and powerful, but not deafening.
There is still something to tell about each of the three winning drivers in the Mazda 787B:
Johnny Herbert(GB): He beat the favorite Sauber-Mercedes with the Mazda and later drove for the Sauber F1 team for several years!
Bertrand Gachot (B): He opened the way to Michael Schumacher`s career. As a Jordan F1 driver, he was locked up for around 2 months shortly before his home Belgian Grand Prix in 1991 following an irritant gas attack on an English cab driver. He was forced to hand over the vacant cockpit to the young Schumacher, thus paving the way for the seven-time world champion's gigantic career.
Volker Weidler (D): He was also briefly in Formula 1 in 1991, driving Günther Schmid's ATS. However, he never made it past the pre-qualifying stage. Severe tinnitus ended his racing career in 1992.
We have published a detailed report on the Mazda 787B.
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