This is the biggest middle finger I've ever seen, a small car manufacturers that was said to never win, a engine that was made fun of, and a driver that was said to never race again, what a race

A “Ford Vs Ferrari” type movie of this story/win is much deserved!

"Track officials warned spectators about its arrival because it was so loud,they needed time to cover their ears" you know how epic that is?? It deserves a movie for this scene in itself

If you didn't get goosebumps after this story, I don't know what will. Herbert literally walked like he successfully did a last stand, put his sword and fainted. A true warrior.

Winning LeMans is a true sign of great engineering. Going around this particular track for 24 hours and being faster than anyone else is no simple feat. Everyone involved in a win in LeMans should be considered a legend of racing.

The sight of Herbert being carried from the car shows you just how much effort the whole team did

I always wondered why 1 driver always gets the credit for winning Le Mans, but seeing Herbert being lifted out of that car, almost like he is lifeless with no expression on his face, he certainly deserves the credit

Easily the angriest, hungriest, meanest, screaming banshee of a racecar ever built. Truly a proper middle-finger car to the entire racing world.

I was at LeMans when the 787B raced. We had a tent by side of the track. It would be fair to say, I could pretty much tell where it was on the track at all times while trying to sleep in the tent. While it was loud, the pitch of the sound was incredible and actually tuneful. Amazing times. I will never forget how it sounded.

I was at Le Mans in 91 the one only time I've been, Seeing that gorgeous car scream by has stayed with me for life, Amazing ❤️

Johnnie Herbert is a warrior… not enough is spoken about the amount that he had to fight through, to continue with this race, finally a video talks about that! Throughly enjoyed this😎

This story brought tears to my eyes 😢...Thank you...this needs to be a Movie

I remember staying up all night in Australia to watch the finish. Back in the early 90s the Nissan GTR was just walloping everything in Group A, Honda engines were the best in F1, Toyota was killing everyone in the WRC, Honda and Suzuki were smashing everyone in Superbikes and the 500s, and when Mazda won Le Mans with a rotary it seemed like Japan was unstoppable in the motorsport world. Then all the various categories changed their rules and that was that. It was a great time to be a motorsport fan for sure.

Johnny Herbert is a legend, fought through all the pain and won the race The 787b is iconic, great video.

This is by far the BEST presentation of this story! Congrats! I bought my first RX7 in 1978... and still have one (my fourth) and it still goes like a bat out of hell.

I've witnessed this car live and the sound of that thing feels like it's driving a hole into your chest. Pretty amazing. I saw F1 with the V8s in 2021 and the 787 was certainly louder and more angry. Herbert was a machine in that race. Excellent video, thank you.

I literally watched the title for this video change in minutes of release. How Japan beat the world. I like this content. It's very much like 'Up to Speed' but without James' added comedic bits. It hits all the points, beautifully edited, and properly laid out. The Squidddddddd really does a great job as a storyteller.

something else to note.. the only failure on the 787b in 24h was a headlight bulb that got shaken loose at 17h in.

Absolutely incredible! Johnny Herbert - his final double stint is 100% the stuff of endurance racing legend

Fun fact: Bertrand Gachot was actually under contract with the Jordan F1 racing team, but when the incident with the cab driver occured his predicament left Eddie without a second driver, which led to Michael Schumachers first gig at the 1991 Spa-Francorchamps GP. 9:38 Also I'm pretty sure this is Spa.

I thought I remembered hearing something along the lines of "when they stripped the engine at the end of the race, they could have put it back together and done another 24 hour race" 😳

I have said for a very long time this story is one of the most movie worthy stories in racing. Just as worthy of a big budget Hollywood release as the Ford vs Ferrari story. Man what an amazing time in racing that was.

This is one of my favourites stories of Le Mans. The underdog Mazda with his own style of rotary engine, agains everyone. Then, the drivers like Gachot (what a year 1991 for Bertrand. The jail, the debut of Jordan 191 in F1 with points in Canada, the victory at Le Mans...), the Herbert's end of the race and the whole country of Japan following this little manufacturer (Mazda is a small brand compare with local giants like Toyota, Honda or Mitsubishi). Those are ingridients for legend.

Even as a dyed in the wool Jaguar fan I hoped and shouted for Mazda, listening to it on the radio as I couldn't afford to go. Superb racing days.

Although Mazda was a huge underdog at Le Mans, they were incredibly successful in IMSA & SCCA road racing in the 1980s.

I was at work [selling TVR's] and we tuned into Radio Le Mans for the finish. I felt very proud driving home in my RX-7 that day. I have a model of the 787B right in front of me. Excellent essay.. Thanks.

Once you hear the 787 or the 767 in person your life is changed, I finally got to hear one at long beach this past year, there is nothing like this car. It was beautiful I would do anything to hear one again it was godly

A true Samurai of racing.

There should be a return to some sort of "anything goes" racing series (where there are few, if any, rules about what the cars can be and manufacturers get to push technology to the limits)

The Rotary engine is a pretty unique and amazing design. With they found a way to make it more reliable for the streets.

Like all sports, F1 is full of "what ifs" but Herbert is one of the biggest. Huge talent. Huge determination. If he entered the grand prix scene healthy, OMG what a racer he would have been.

Perseverance is what made this team win, and the fact that the Mercs and other big teams thought they wouldn't win.powerful presentation thank you.

I have a 1/24 scale model of the Orange and Green Mazda 787B race car, and I have spent probably close to almost $400 give or take on buying the model kit ($140 at the time as they were and still are pretty rare kits) and what's called "Detail-Up Kits" which can range from factory made accessories like wide body fenders made from plastic all the way up to the "Super-High Detail-Up Kits made by 3rd party people and companies that are usually 100% made of resin, crafted with so much more detail that entire model kits sometimes lol. They usually have whats called "Photo-Etched Parts" which are legitimately tiny scale parts made of metal including grills, hood pins or even hood hinges, badging for that particular car so metal Mazda badges etc. I spent over $200 alone on a resin "super high detail up" 4-rotor Wankel race car engine and almost $60 on a set of real turned Aluminum 2 piece wheels with real rubber tires.. Why? Why spend that much on one model car? (you'd shit yourself if I told you how much I've sunk into every car i build for local and friendly competitions) But besides spending almost that much on building one of EVERY Rocket Bunny, Liberty Walk & RWB wide body car for competitions Ive used this hobby to get sober from opiates and stay that way for going on almost 8 years now! I eveb made a business buying/selling/trading model cars from home and I REALLY upped my business game up buying a couple 3D printers to make my own scale model car kits and accessories! Giggity.

It's actually makes a lot of sense that the rotary can be a reliable race engine, since most of it's normal problems is related to normal driving. You see the same kind of thing with some bmw //M cars, like the "notorious" v10 m5 and it's rod bearings, as a track engine, it's way reliable, cause that is what the engine is designed to do, and maintenance is so different.

What an amazing story of grit and determination! I’ve always been a Mazda fan (1991 Protege was my first) and several others since - they truly make impeccably well engineered cars that are ACTUALLY reliable and fun to drive. This story deserves a movie! Who doesn’t love underdogs!

You did a hell of a job telling the story of the 787B. Thank you for this epic video.

The Mazda 787B had the best sound of any racecar in my opinion.

I'm a huge rotary guy. I've owned 3 RX7s and have a great deal of experience working on them. In 2012 I had a chance to go to Hiroshima, and visit Mazda headquarters. A family friend worked there and joined me for the factory tour. When we got to the heritage room where the 787B was, he asked if I could have some time alone with it. The tour guide kept going with the group and they turned off the lights in the room, except for the lights over the 787B. I had 5 minutes alone with it. The 787B had been my favorite car since I was a kid, and in this moment it was like being given a chance to meet my hero. I ran my hand along the car as I walked next to it.

Imagine it’s the last lap and all you hear is this beast scream across the finish line, I love it!

You're the best in the whole ideal media team, the way this guys explains stuff without screaming trying to be funny is just so great

GT4 turned into a completely different game after unlocking this car. It was also the first rare "black edition" car I got. Good memories, loud memories, fast memories. Such a beautiful racer. Must've been scary and fun to actually drive one.

I love a good underdog story. And this is the greatest one of all time. The Mazda 787B is the epitome of Japanese perseverance and ingenuity. And they certainly pushed the boundaries. That's why all my cars are Mazdas. Great storytelling, Squidd, as always. JDM #1!

Even though I've watched this video many times it still gives me chills at the end, the part about it's horrifying scream is just the perfect way to sum up how the 787b sounded

the way you narrate this video is pretty goddamn good!! I wonder how it feels like when you hear the loud roaring dominantly taking the whole Le Mans track of the 787B when you said "jackie convinced his team to push it"

the 787B is my all time favourite car, it's from a time when racing could still have creativity, it's the story of an underdog, it looks beautiful, and it really sounds like it's giving it all, which it was, it went hours on the limit and just wouldnt break down

I never get tired of watching Mazda 787 videos. A small manufacturer that pours its passion into its cars.

WoW watching as Johnny Herbert was carried away from the 787b, was truly amazing. I can only imagine what it’s like to drive a race car of it’s time. If that isn’t total determination and control by Herbert I don’t know what is……what a great video! I love the 787b. Definitely my favourite car of all time.

well done! i really remembered this race and why the 787b was so remembered

Learning about this car is really exciting because the first time I saw it was in Gran Turismo 3 back in 2002 and I loved it. I can see why it's included in the Gran Turismo games even today. Thank you so much for sharing this great documentary about it.

I remember my first ride in a rotary engine car . It was 1987 and the car was a 1973 Mazda RX3 road rally car that was brought to the United states by a guy in the Air force , it was right hand drive . It was quick and fast , never road in a car that was being shifted at over 10,000 RPM .it was an amazing experience.

I first saw this car on gran turismo 3 and it was a car that you couldn't buy it you had to win it, I spent hours on that game trying to get it and never did. Then I got gran turismo sport and you could buy it for a million credits and it was the first car I bought, I did the driving school and track knowledge to get money and cars so I could save to get this car and I love it, the ultimate underdog turned into a living legend

Absolutely Epic underdog story! Fantastic job of telling the tale far better than I’ve heard it anywhere else. You can’t make this stuff up, it’s sure to be movie gold someday. The sound of a that beast never fails to make me smile.

And they won a 24 hr race with the car which was known as unreliable which is awesome. And that car🤤🤤

Thank you for this. Absolutely the best video ever done yet about the winning Mazda at Le Mans. As a fabricator and crew chief for 2 Mazda RX7's racing in SCCA's GT2 and GT3 class I've affectionate feelings for that funny lookin' lil' breadbox of an engine. It will always be near and dear to me. There was a group of us, 4 GT class cars and a rotary powered sports racer (that won the Runoffs at Mid-Ohio) plus the semi-pro Formula Mazda open wheel formula cars. We all shared a mantra..."We will NOT be beat by piston motors". Our loud, flame spitting lil' monsters constantly outran and won the majority of races against piston motors 2-3 times more displacement. Lil' background...At every single race meet, every single track session we'd watch our competitors fiddling around with valve train related issues before and after going on track.. Careful valve lash setting, checking pushrods, lifters, ensuring rockers were functioning correctly. After practice/qualifying they'd repair/replace valve train components as needed. Hence Racing Beat once sold T-Shirts emblazoned with a big circle with a slash thru it and an image of a conventional poppet valve and spring with the words..."Valves?? We don't need no stinkin' valves!" Our engine maintenance consisted minor jetting changes to compensate for the weather and double check ign. timing, which never seemed to change. That allowed us to really focus on suspension, chassis and braking setups. Point is, as long as the rotors/chambers got oil, that engine is practically unbreakable needing very little attention. Plus, the top end charge from 8K+ rpm is unreal. Although piston cars might a bit of advantage of grunt (torque) exiting a turn, once that rotary is wound up, look out!!! As in golf parlance..."Pardon me, we're playing through." The Formula Mazda class was a success story of it's own. A strong, simple tube frame open wheel car with innovative suspension and a sealed spec 13B with a standard Weber 48 IDA would deliver 180+ hp for race after race after race. That engine could easily make more hp but was detuned for reliability. Daryl Drummond in Bakersfield was the contracted builder of all the FM engines. Daryl would always dyno an engine before and after a rebuild. I was in the shop when he started on a 2 time national champ in class engine that had 5 full seasons of racing on it. Even after 5 years, that lil' lump still produced 165 hp. Compression was down, needed a refresh to bring it back to spec. That series eventually begat the "Road to Indy" drivers program with scholarships to top competitors to use towards a pro career in Indy cars. With the 4 rotor engine outlawed in WEC series, Mazda moved to the IMSA GTP series. Competitors there complained loudly that if the same power plant is allowed in IMSA (it was) that they haven't a chance. IMSA penalized the team by adding weight and requiring a smaller fuel cell than the others. The only cars to threaten the Mazda's were the Nissan/Electromotive and Gurney Toyota GTP cars, engineering marvels of their own. There are still supporters of that funny looking motor. The Aussies are making some crazy dyno numbers, Rob Daum here in the states has built his own monster 4 rotor 1000+ hp 4wd RX7 and in Puerto Rico the import drags are owned by rotary powered cars. Even USAC outlawed the engine. A handful of rotary engine midget sprint cars were beating up the 2 liter inline fours on track. Fuel injected, methanol burning rotaries were making in excess of 400 hp with a power plant that weighs less than half the piston powered cars. That top end charge of the rotaries simply outran the others. Plus the glorious 3 foot long flames on every corner entry was beautiful to behold. Yeah, the rotary engine is truly a neat lil' motor when you understand it.

Not sure if you do scripting and footage by yourself or with a team BUT gaaaawdamn! You did an awesome job telling this story! Sad you rushed over the details but at least you mentioned them... Great video I am glad i watched and happy i subscribed. Keep the entertainment/educational videos coming! pls

Man this vid is great , one of the best stories I've encountered, I appreciate the effort dude ,keep going and all the best too you 👍🏻

Very important to remember - the great Jackie Ickx lobbied the FAI to lower the Cars weight from 1000kg to 830kg - a massive 170kg taken from the cars - which cannot be overlooked in the process of the win.

Fun fact: Mazda didn't actually quit after 1991. They went on for one more year under the then new 3.5L regulations with the MXR-01. That car was actually just last year's Jaguar XJR-14 fitted with a Judd GV V10. Mazda did this because they didn't have the budget, tech or knowhow to produce an F1-style engine like that, but still wanted to race. The MXR-01 finished fourth at Le Mans but it could never keep pace with the Toyota TS010 and Peugeot 905, as Mazda had no knowledge of the car and couldn't really develop it. When the World Sportscar Championship collapsed at the end of 1992, Mazda finally called it quits.

Fascinating epic story, thank you for posting this, well done!

Damn man, this video is like a movie, I've seen it times and times and keep watching it every time, thanks to your amazing voice acting, the way you say things give me chills, you're amazing, writing is amazing, everything about how you tell the story is amazing, thanks for that amazing video

For me this is the most beautiful race car ever build. The story behind it is also wonderful

The Mazda 787B was not 'banned'! It simply ran out of time in the Group C regulations it ran to. Many other cars did too. It's a shame because the 'fuel' era of Group C was truly a golden era. I was lucky enough to witness a number of Gp C race4s in-period, including Mazda's epic 1991 Le Mans victory. But it wasn't banned.

Stories like this, the original nsx, and an r32 are so awesome. Fantastic work

7:53 the way you give the "wacky" pointing to them just got me

Mazda 787B has been one of my favorite cars all time since gran turismo series. Car is fast, light, nice to handle and god damn that engine screams. I fell in love with that car

Its ridiculous how many engine regulations were brought in, massively stunted development of the engine for the whole world. Johnny Herbert is a British motorsport legend 🇬🇧

Goosebumps! Well done vid!

Very, very good 👍. How you conveyed such a massive heartfelt story so quickly is just brilliant 👏. Well done guys. ✌️👍🇬🇧

Loved the story telling! Thanks for putting this together

These types of videos are what make KZfaq worthwhile. Thank you for sharing with so much passion, this little piece of Le Mans history.

Wow, you did an excellent job telling this story. Great video.

Fantastic history, and exciting report. Congratulations...! I had no idea about Mazda 787B endurance trial. Thank you, very much. Luiz Andrade - Sao Paolo/Brazil

i did not know of Mazda's History on LeMans in this much depth, but i'm proud that a underdog made to the podium putting said team to shame and giving both a reality check and middle finger that not just standard V10s and V12s are THE engines to use... Well played Mazda and also good vid man

This video is so full of inaccuracies. Gachot was sentenced AFTER the Le Mans race so he was not a prisoner before the race Johnny Herbert did not need to run to the cars, Le Mans cancelled the standing start in 1971. Mazda may have had difficulty at Le Mans but had incredible success racing the Rx7 in IMSA, and in the Touring Car series in Europe and Australia.

The pace and music had me tearing up at the end. Good vid 🙌🏻

First time watching your channel, had a secret fanatical obsession with the 787b in particular being a kiwi from nz, we built the first high performance 4rotors (that im aware of) and im instantly hooked, subscribing, liking and clicking that bell. Glad this was the first vid i saw of yours

And people ask me why i'm in love with cars, and racing.....

Thank you for the video presentation. To add a bit more context and background here. Nigel Stroud came on board with the top Mazda effort in 1986 with the 757 and each subsequent iteration to the 787B. Mazda also had other very important class wins prior to the overall in 1991 that contributed to the ultimate success. 1983 - 717C 13B / (1st) Group C Junior 1984 - Lola T616 13B / (1st) / Group C2 1985 - 737C 13B / (3rd) Group C2 1987 - 757 13G / (1st) IMSA 1988 - 757 13G / (1st) IMSA 1989 - 767B 13J / (1st) IMSA 1990 - 767B 13J / (1st) IMSA Mazda, as well as the other teams, were well aware of the rules changes (3.5L formula) coming from at least late '88, so they embarked on a full attack to try and win on or before 1991. The challenge was enormous, but Mazda set some very ambitious performance goals for itself with the 787B program (+100 HP with higher efficiency), they hired the right people (ORECA, Jacky Ickx, 6 time LeMan winner and some fast F1 drivers) to help set the performance and efficiency goal and worked at it relentlessly. This was a technique learned over the previous decade of competition at the LM24 and Daytona. The team also "politiked" very effectively, a big part of racing, and it was all hands on deck back home in Hiroshima with all engineering departments contributing to the effort, including their new shiny supercomputer. What most don't know was the actual amount of preparation, sophistication and technology that was thrown at the 787 "B" effort, especially for 1991. The chassis tub monocoque, full carbon fiber, a rarity then, the brakes, carbon-ceramic, again one of the first at LM, but what really took the team to the top was the amount of telemetry, monitoring and data gathering used for the '90/'91 LM effort, again a rarity in sports car racing then. The driver training on how to run the car most efficiently, and not the absolute fastest, was also a very deliberate plan. Once on-track MazdaSpeed Team Boss, Ohashi-San, released the #55 to rabbit out and run a quicker pace then the other two cars, run or die... The strategy worked and when the other teams started to suffer failures (attrition was more common back then) the #55 Mazda was there to pounce running its own highly prepared strategy. So yes the 787B was not the absolute fastest, but it was the most prepared and reliable that day. This was an effort that had really taken +10 years to achieve. So yes, it was definitely not banned, but the factory itself and other outlets perpetuated the myth, as it made for great marketing and people still believe it today. 😉

Thanks for this story. Really interesting!

I remember that Le Mans race. I was in shock and was elated the design rotary engine finally won an important race. I had hoped for years Mazda would prove the rotary engine was a viable racing engine. Mazda passed into history with a strategic milestone marker under it belt. Right on! Hurrah!

As an old cars lover. I loved your documentary on the 787B. I never knew the full story of the rotary motor performance in LeMans. Thanks :)

Each rotor is similar to a 3-cylinder, 120 crank, 2 stroke. 4 rotors would be similar to 15 degree crank, which is right in the optimum power stroke angle.

Good show. I really enjoyed that.👍

Might be the most iconic le mans car out there. The rotary engine has its fans but also has definite flaws that despite this car winning with one doesn't mean it was a good engine

I vividly remember that race and how everyone at the end cheer for the underdog ; as an engineering nerd its so refreshing to see not just a victory for Mazda but a victory to engineering

Herbert never had to worry about running in a Le Man's start, it was changed in 1970. Great video btw

Tyvm! You are an excellent story teller! :-)

Great video , for a long time I tried to find out why Mazda got banned because articles I read didn't give much detail but the headlines made it sound like Mazda cheated and recently found out about the rule changes , the way you tell the story a movie should be made with you as the director 💪💪💪

No matter how many times I see that car I just can’t get enough of that beauty

The story brought tears to my eyes, never give up guys.

Such a great video, I'm crying ❤️

Brilliant video. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

I believe this was the same engine that ran at the 24 hours of Daytona. I thought my heart was going to stop everytime that thing screamed by at what seemed like 40,000 rpm. Incredible!!!

Le Mans hasn’t used a running start since 1969. That year, Jackie Icks himself staged a protest by walking to his car and methodically buckling himself in. As a result, he started last. He also won the race that year. That same year there was a fatal crash at White House Curve on the first lap, the driver having failed to buckle himself in.

Since I met my first Mazda Rx3 in the ‘70s, I felt in love with this, amazing car! The sound, the powerful engine, the fact to accelerate almost without limits. Awesome!!!!!

What a story with great end, thanks for this video.

I remember watching that race when I was in Jr High. The sound of the 787B still gives me chills. Very sexy

Great egos was hurt during this race :) Go Mazda go

I just keep on watching this... again and again.. it's unbelievable superiority of Mazda team and the machine.. respect for thier courage and eagerness to win the famous race of all times... it's a legend..👋👋👋

my dad was there and the videos he got of the 787b were amazing , the sound of that beast was enough to make a man cry from its awesomeness.