Mazda 787B Poster
Regular price
$26.00
Fighting the massed ranks of 7.4-liter V12 Jaguars, 5-liter turbo V8 Sauber-Mercedes and well proven 3.2-liter turbo flat-6s Porsches at Le Mans, inevitably Mazda was cast in the underdog role. The 787, running a 2.6-liter rotary engine, had looked handsome but not quick when it ran at Le Mans in 1990, qualifying outside the top 20. In 787B spec for ’91, the car set near identical qualifying times as the year before, around a dozen seconds slower than the pole-winning Mercedes, but ahead of the Jaguars, and it would prove this way come the race.
After six hours, Volker Weidler, Johnny Herbert and Bertrand Gachot had piloted their 787B, No. 55, into fourth place, behind only the three Sauber-Mercedes. Then one by one, the “Silver Arrows” suffered long stops – one to replace a damaged undertray, another to fix a gearbox stuck in fourth, and with three hours to go, the lead Mercedes – while holding a three-lap advantage over the Mazda – halted due to severe overheating.
Now holding a two-lap advantage over their nearest competitors, Weidler and Herbert were finally able to back off, the three heavy Jaguars occupying second, third and fourth places quite unable to gain ground on the Mazda, given their fuel allotment.
This was the first Le Mans victory by a Japanese manufacturer, and the only one scored by a non-piston engine.
Museum-quality posters made on thick matte paper.
• Paper thickness: 10.3 mil
• Paper weight: 189 g/m²
• Opacity: 94%
• ISO brightness: 104%
• Paper is sourced from Japan
After six hours, Volker Weidler, Johnny Herbert and Bertrand Gachot had piloted their 787B, No. 55, into fourth place, behind only the three Sauber-Mercedes. Then one by one, the “Silver Arrows” suffered long stops – one to replace a damaged undertray, another to fix a gearbox stuck in fourth, and with three hours to go, the lead Mercedes – while holding a three-lap advantage over the Mazda – halted due to severe overheating.
Now holding a two-lap advantage over their nearest competitors, Weidler and Herbert were finally able to back off, the three heavy Jaguars occupying second, third and fourth places quite unable to gain ground on the Mazda, given their fuel allotment.
This was the first Le Mans victory by a Japanese manufacturer, and the only one scored by a non-piston engine.
Museum-quality posters made on thick matte paper.
• Paper thickness: 10.3 mil
• Paper weight: 189 g/m²
• Opacity: 94%
• ISO brightness: 104%
• Paper is sourced from Japan
