"Banned"-this just gives me high blood pressure. People just need to accept: 1) The rule change to the ill-fated 3.5L NA engines was planned way before Mazda even entered the 1991 race, likely already in 1990. Just because Mazda happened to win the race in the last year of the "Group C" regulations, it does not equal to being "banned". If you insist on using the term "banned" then might as well as say Mercedes', Porsche's, Toyota's, Nissan's turbos and Jaguar's 7-litre V12s were "banned".
The car was not banned cuz it win, the engine was banned after like 10 years of his win, because of changes at Group c and FIA, because group c was getting more popular than formula 1.
@@scuffediceposeidon9178- Completely agree...after watching this and recently (again) Senna in Monaco...steering with the left hand and shifting with the right hand for the duration of a race reminds me of how much talent a driver had was rewarded with how capable his car was...now...drivers just stab/steer and let an ecu sort it out... Thank you for the reply! 👊
@Chenstrapftw Actually it was the '91 winning 787B's engine that was taken apart after the victory. They said it was still like new inside and could've easily run another 24 hours. That was the last year rotaries were allowed to race but the ban was lifted a few years later.
You mean the same ban that applied to ALL Group C cars of the older generation from the 787b, Sauber C9/C11, Jaguars, Posches, and everything else? It wasn't a ban on "rotary engines" specifically. In 1992, the rule came into effect that all Group C cars had to basically use Formula 1 engines which was too expensive for most teams to finance, and 1993 ended up being the last season of the series because so many teams dropped out.
@KosaiAvonej actually, it has to do with unfair weight issues and rotarys being to efficent. before they were outlawed, one was torn down after the le mans race and it was said it coud have gone another 24 hours easy. anyone with basic mechanical knowledge can tell a totary will last longer than a piston engine.
Yeah, I hate the direction that most racing federations are going, trying to make it more of a "spec race"(with unified car types) type of sport. What they fail to realize is that most automotive technology is a direct result of a racing experiment. I want to see the better engineered car win, not the driver. If I wanted a spec race I'd go watch NASCAR.
Le Sarthe and the Le Mans 24 = Place of Legend and Races of record. It's a shame the Rotaries where banned all because decade old european brands got their panties all up in a knot over losing. You know, the whole "Well the day I'm lectured by the Japanese how to make a race car!!!" sort of deal. Europeans killed the Wankel Rotary engine, which was never clearer then in '91 the engine of future world class race cars.
