The Truth About Mazda's Banned Supercar

Mazda pioneered the rotary engine and set out on a mission to prove that it was capable of beating anything with pistons. And after decades of racing and development, they finally created their masterpiece, the 787b. But when it came time for Mazda to race at the 24 hours of Le Mans, they were outright banned...
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#mazda #lemans #787b

[tobias_k]

So many still think this car was so dominant that it was banned, but it was quite the opposite. Mazda never really was a big player in Group C, but when the rules changed they had their final shot to win the big one - and that in itself is a big achievement. Many will fail under pressure, but they managed to put it all together one last time to finally achieve what they fought for all these years. Very remarkable.

[tobias_k]

What I really love about Mazda is their persistent belief in doing things thier own way, even if it makes things more difficult or is a significant departure of proven solutions. From rotary engines, naturally aspirated petrol engines with high compression ratio, daring design and innovative features like in the Eunos Cosmo, and even striving to be a multi-brand group from small cars with Autozam to luxury cars with Amati - only money can limit their goals, not the doubt of others.

[Holeecrab]

To be precise, Rotary was never banned on Le Mans nor "Endurance" but only at World Sportscars Championship series where Le Mans had their own regulations back then. After their win, there's a few rotary racecars still compete at Le Mans, from their IMSA GTO RX7 with 3 Rotor in 1994, Kudzus, to WR thanks to Jim Downing effort. Heck, even in this current regulation you can bring rotary to Hypercar class, it's just no one running it yet.

[clutch]

The reason the 787B was so reliable is because it was at high RPM constantly, rotaries are most reliable at high RPM, because at low RPM carbon build up starts to occur, which is why the apex seals are the main issue

If you want your rotary engine to last long, drive it hard, at least once a day

[MahadShahzad]

This should become an actual movie about the history of Mazda's Early racing days to the win at Le mans like Ford V Ferrari. The driver that finished first had a broken leg and also health problem that you can see the mazda team carrying him. This one race was a truly one of the greatest moments in automotive history from some bored Mazda dealerships guys and their racing attempts to finally taste the victory after 2 decades. It was the Le mans car that could and it did beat them all in reliability, fuel efficiency and the race.

[bennyb.]

I find it hilarious that both the 717 and 787 scored their wins based on reliability and fuel efficiency. Two things that are meme worthy massive weaknesses of the rotary in popular parlance

[helloScuffed]

Fun fact: Mazda won Le Mans 8 times, but only the 787B took the overall victory. The fact that most of Mazda's other Le Mans victories were attributed to Mazda being the only one to compete in a particular class is another story. Every car that wins the 24h Le Mans wins because it should win, in Le Mans you don't win by chance.

[nagmashot]

forget to add so many things...
1) the 787B was so outclased that the FIA allowed it to race at 850kg... 250kg ligther than the Jag... the one and only reason it was more full efficent and more reliable
2) with the weigth penalty they gave the Jag, it was impossible for them to win
3) Mercedes dominated the whole seaon and run into technical problems only at the 24h of LeMans
4) the Porsche 962 were already years of their peak and were still faster than Mazda in every other endurance race
5) Mazada was far from being the first winning races with rotary engines... this honor goes to NSU with their Wankel Spider which won the German Rally championship overall in 1966 driven by Karl-Heinz Panowitz and in 1967 and 1968 Siegfried Spieß won the german hillclimb championship overall.
6) Rotary was not pioneered by Mazda engineers and they did not pit the first rotary engine into production...that was NSU, Mazda was only the first to put a two rotor engine into a street car
all in all the win of the 787B was 90% luck and 10% performance

[Sagojika]

Thank you for making a video on this legend

[kizashikaze]

Fun Fact - RENOWN was still making clothing up until they filed for bankruptcy in mid 2020

[japaneseracingcars]

Did you know that after 1991, a rotary-powered Mazda car was back to Le Mans in 1994, right? And there were several rotary prototypes (Kudzu) racing there from 1995 onwards, and one even got the very same R26B engine that was used by the 787B in 1991. So in fact, Mazda + rotary were NEVER banned from Le Mans

[zahinpasha]

24:07 The sheer dedication of Johnny Herbert :') Imagine giving it all till the very end

[Pjb]

As the old saying goes "To finish first, first you must finish".

[cooliomo]

I love this story! I could listen to it over and OVER again!
Though being a Mazda enthusiast I wish MazdaSpeed would come back! Great video as ALWAYS!

[TheLocalSwede]

The Mazda 787B will forever be my all-time favorite racecar, and I will never change my opinion that it is the greatest sounding vehicle ever created.

[Autoblox]

The legend came back! Amazing production quality man

[MrSkeptik-zr]

My 18 yr old Mazda has endured me for 7 years, still shiny and runs like a Swiss watch. Love Mazda.

[MotorsportArchives]

Quality commentary as always mate, loved this one, the perfect summary of an amazing race. I finally managed to see the 767B in action a few weeks ago in Adelaide, now just need to track down an event with the 787B running :)

[Slakass]

Conquering Le Mans is an astonishing accomplishment. Doing so in the incredible Group C is something else. Add a rotary engine to the mix and it's almost unbelievable.
A big congrats to the dedication of those engineers and drivers for persevering. Would love to see Mazda returning to Le Mans.

As usual, this was a superb production. Great research, editing and narration. I'm really beginning to enjoy your work.

[Graver-]

My love for the rotary engine began in 1999 with my 1995 R1 RX7. Such beauty and grace