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  Mazda 787B      

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Country of origin:Japan
Produced in:1991
Numbers built:3
Designed by:Nigel Stroud for Mazdaspeed
Predecessor:Mazda 787
Author:Wouter Melissen
Last updated:July 27, 2015
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Click here to download printer friendly versionEfficiency was a key factor in this period at Le Mans due to the restricted amount of fuel available for each car. In preparation for the race, Mazdaspeed's engineers figured that completing 367 laps in 24 hours would be sufficient for victory, so they set about optimising the new 787B to achieve that goal. As a result the maximum engine revs were limited to 8,500 rpm, restricting the power to 650 bhp. Much emphasis was also put on achieving the highest cornering speeds possible as that would improve performance without affecting consumption.

Covering all bases, Mazdaspeed also obtained the services of Le Mans legend Jacky Ickx as an adviser. He suggested using Hugues de Chaunac's Oreca team to run the cars in Europe after competing with the French squad in the Dakar rally. Early in 1991 Oreca conducted a long distance test at Paul Ricard with an evolution of the 787, followed by another with the final 787B in April. At that time, the 787B had already made its competition debut at Suzuka where it placed sixth, followed by a ninth position at Monza.

For Le Mans, Mazda brought two 787Bs and a 787 as back-up. The cars were entered in the C2 class along with the other 'current generation' Group C cars. The C1 class was for the cars built to the new regulations and fitted with the Formula 1 inspired 3.5 litre, naturally aspirated engines. To encourage the production of C1 cars, they were favoured by the regulations and most of the earlier cars received weight penalties. Mazda handily convinced the governing bodies to keep the minimum weight for their cars at 830 kg.

Assigned to drive the 787Bs were David Kennedy, Stefan Johansson and Maurizio Sandro-Sala (#18) and Volker Weidler, Johnny Herbert and Bertrand Gachot (#55). The #56 Mazda 787 was handled by Takashi Yorino, Yojiro Terada and Pierre Dieudonné. Practice revealed that the time and resources were well spent as the 'B' proved to be over 5 seconds faster than the 1990 spec 787. Particularly the carbon-ceramic brakes, never used before by any manufacturer at Le Mans, were a great asset.

Due to the modest results in Mazda's previous outings at Le Mans, the Japanese manufacturer did not rank among the pre-race favourites, which included the likes of Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Peugeot. In qualifying the two 787Bs set the 12th (#55) and 17th (#18) fastest times but they had to start in 19th and 23rd place respectively as the rules dictated that the C1 cars would take the first slots on the grid. The 787 was 24th fastest and started in 30th position.

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  Article Image gallery (65) Chassis (2) Specifications User Comments (1)