Video of two Mazda teams in 1991 Le Mans.
23rd of April in 1991 Mazda became the first Japanese manufacturer to win the Le Mans when the number 55 car of Bertrand Gachot, Johnny Herbert and Volker Weidler crossed the finish line in first place after fierce 24 hours of racing. This would also be the first and last time to date when the race was won with a rotary engine.
Mazda's key to success laid in the reliability and durability of the 787B. Mazda teams knew that they wouldn't be able to compete against faster Mercedes, Porsche and Jaguar cars on raw speed, but they knew if they could be consistent and stay within touching distance of the leaders, they would have a theoretical chance of winning the event. The 787B had an advantage on tyre, fuel and part wear compared to its rivals which allowed it to pit later, increasing the distance covered by each stint, gaining them ground on their faster rivals.
The two Mazda teams approached the race differently. The colorful 55 car was ordered to go maximum attack to stay as close to the front as possible, relying on the car's reliability to make up for the rest of the gap to the leaders. Number 18 car was ordered to drive risk free and as efficiently as possible in order to do longer stints. The number 18 car was also geared differently in order to save fuel on the straights.
After first couple hours of racing, the number 55 car had risen from 19th on the grid to third place behind two Mercedes cars while the number 18 was languishing outside of top ten. Number 55 car would also overtake Mercedes of Karl Wendlinger before nightfall after he spun and had to pit for repairs to the back of the car. The car would later suffer from transmission issues meaning it wouldn't be a threat to now 2nd placed 787b. Standings would remain the same for the number 55 car through the night however the #18 car rose through the rankings into the top ten because of its consistent and trouble free racecraft.
After night turned to day, the #55 car was still behind the Mercedes and it looked like the race would end that way as the merc just kept going around the track with impressive lap times. However 2 hours before the end of the race, the Mercedes developed engine issues which forced it to pit. Mercedes pit crew did their best to fix the car, but to no avail. The car would retire and the #55 787B would take the lead to amazement of the crowd aswell as Mazda mechanics.
The situation seemed almost too good to be true. You'd think something would go wrong eventually, yet nothing did. #55 car driven by Johnny Herbert crossed the finish line first to the delight of the crowd and Mazda mechanics from both teams. Mazda had won and the years of hard work and patience had paid off.
787B would go on to become one of the most iconic racing cars to come out of japan helped by the popular Granturismo racing videogame series.
Results:
1. #55 Mazda 787B (Volker Weidler, Bertrand Gachot & Johnny Herbert) 362 Laps
2 #35 Jaguar XJ-12 (Davy Jones, Raul Boesel & Michel Ferte) 360 Laps
3 #34 Jaguar XJ-12 (Teo Fabi, Bob Wollek & Kenny Acheson) 358 Laps
4 #33 Jaguar XJ-12 (Derek Warwick, John Nielsen & Andy Wallace) 356 Laps
5 #31 Mercedes C11 (Karl Wendlinger, Michael Schumacher & Fritz Kreutzpointner) 355 Laps
6 #18 Mazda 787B (Dave Kennedy, Stefan Johansson & Maurizio Sandro Sala) 355 Laps
7 #58 Porsche 962C (Hans-Joachim Stuck, Derek Bell & Frank Jelinski) 347 Laps
8 #56 Mazda 787 (Takashi Yorino, Yojiro Terada & Pierre Dieudonne) 346 Laps
9 #11 Porsche 962C (Manuel Reuter, Harri Toivonen & J.J. Lehto) 343 Laps
10 #17 Porsche 962 CK6 (Oscar Larrauri, Jesus Pareja & Walter Brun) 338 Laps