Can you believe it has been 20 years since Mazda’s unlikely triumph in the greatest endurance race in the world: the Le Mans 24 Hours?
Despite new regulations which saw the Jaguars and Mercedes cars start outside the top 10, all eyes were on the awesome Sauber C11s and Tom Walkinshaw’s incredible XJR-12s for the 1991 running of the event. After a strong early run, the Peugeots that had led the way were swiftly despatched and the scene was set for Mercedes domination.
But, despite the heroics of veteran Jochen Mass and a hard-charging young racer named Michael Schumacher, the Mercedes assault was hit by mechanical problems. Jaguar monopolised on its reliability to take second, third and fourth, but nothing could stop Mazda claiming an historic first Le Mans win with British grand prix star Johnny Herbert at the wheel.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of their overall victory, a team of Mazda Motor Corporation employees prepared the gorgeous looking and fantastically sounding Mazda 787B to once again travel at speed around La Sarthe.
So sit back and be prepared to drool, as Johnny Herbert takes the rotary-powered Mazda around the iconic 8.4 mile circuit for the first time in 20 years.
Fantastic!
Bootiful! :-)