I was there in 1991. In the middle of the night, there were two distinct and very different sounds. The Sauber Mercedes, 5 Litre, twin turbo, thundering away in the lead, a silver flash, glowing brake discs and it was gone for another lap. As the sound subsided, there was another sound in the distance, a high pitch scream the rotary in pursuit... eventually the Sauber faltered. Great memories
This car....this fucking car terrorized me in Gran Turismo 3 when I was a kid. I never beat it, but I can draw you a detailed sketch of what the back looks like...I have that shit ingrained into my memory.
Samwise El Lol yeah! The GT something.... That car used to infuriate me once I got the 787B because I would never see it in a race till then. Only time I would ever even HEAR it was the turbo blow off on each shift on the start of each race. Man that brings back memories.
Antwon Jenkins Haha I ended up owning all them cars Nissan lm Toyota gt one and the 787b. Racing Monaco endurance race for 3 hours straight then crashing in the last lap and losing first place.
@2whl4re " i had him crying till the morning ". So tell me, is that a phrase or a fact ? Only the word "literally" would have made you not have to guess.
20 years later jumping back in the same motor you drove all them years ago and getting to go round the same course. Fucking awesome, imagine doing that.
I recently watched a documentary about the 787b. Is this the driver that didn't make it to the podium after the chequered flag because of driving an extra stint and was nursing an injury?
Yeah for sure. Skill and stamina needed.....and balls. But even great drivers screw up. Herbert gets off the clutch a little to soon around 3:40. If you listen closely you can hear it scrape for a second.
@@kasugakyosuke6441 Of course not. Have you read the reviews by the people who _did_ drive it? The late Belgian journalist Paul Frere, said the steering was very heavy and the car suffered from terminal understeer. When Johnny Herbert finished the 24 Hours at Le Mans, he was so exhausted that he had to be carried from the car and did not attend the victory celebrations with co-drivers, Volker Weidler and Bertrand Gachot.
+Iam MTS Chapter 4 of "Driving a 787b" says: "During your race with this vehicle, you may experience an intense erection lasting throughout your entire drive. In order to not become distracted by your massive erection, you must play with yourself when not shifting gears."
For me, this is the most iconic race car ever, once a year, I pop in here to hear this masterpiece of a car, I guess it was this car that made me an absolute Mazda fan.
It would be so much better. The new cars sound like blenders or something, and are way too quiet. Plus with rotaries you could get the same or maybe more power out of a smaller lighter engine which would make for even faster cars.
Strider Sky No, it wasn't banned. This myth is simply bullshit. The regulations changes (that also made obsolete all cars built to the pre-1992 regulations, funny how you who believe in this myth never mention this) for 1992 season had nothing to do with Mazda or their win the previous year, especially since they were set in stone at least full year before they even won. I don't care how good wankel is in theory, but fact is that outside of 1991 Le Mans Mazda never even finished on the podium despite using wankel engines for several years and full seasons in the World Sportscar Championship. In 1991, it finished fifth in the Championship behind, Jaguar, Peugeot, Mercedes and Spice-Cosworth.
I only just found out that Johnny was in too much pain to get to the podium when he won in 1991, Really great that he eventually got the chance to launch himself onto that top step.
I was only 3 years old in 1991, this car was my favorite to listen to and when I played GT3 and GT4 I would rev the hell out the car just to hear the engine crackle to life.
Thank you Johnny. At that time, you couldn't stand on the podium because of dehydration. I'm glad to see you on the podium. Thank you for loving Japan. From JAPAN.
Probably my most favorite 787b video on youtube. I love the old H pattern shifting on group C cars a lot more than today's paddle shifting. And one can never forget the angry, monstrous engine sound of the 787b as it roared around Le Sarthe back in its day. It assaulted everyone's eardrums, but in a good way!
@@DylanvdBerg it’s not a sequential. You literally see him pulling the gear lever back and it staying where he puts it. A sequential would spring back. It’s an H-Pattern shifter, most if not all Group-C cars were in this era
I'm old, but I loved driving Gran Turismo. The Mazda and Toyota were my favorite cars. My son's never beat my times, and I always won the endurance races, too. We spent years camping, shooting weapons, building bonfires and throwing five gallon buckets of white fuel on the flames. Fireworks throughout the year and eating pizza late at night. We had access to over 200 acres of wooded land an hour south of KC. This video triggered so many excellent memories. Thanks from the bottom of my heart!!
My son and I were lucky enough to talk to Johnny at the British GP a few years back. Such a nice guy, totally giving of his time. It’s hard to marry up that lovely guy with the sort of loony mad enough to drive this beast in the night at 240mph. Massive respect for the car and a totally charming man. Great video!!
i know what you mean, seeing him when he was a presenter on Sky F1 he's such a funny, whitty kinda guy always having a laugh and a joke but we forget he was once a F1 driver in the days where balls was just as important as talent so he knows what it takes to get inside beasts like this and drive the nuts off them
Seeing this car, and realizing Rob Dahm stuffed the same thing into an FDRX7 is insane. This car is pure sound and sheer speed. What a piece of automotive history.
Yes! Although Rob's 4 rotor is turbo-charged, there are a lot of differences actually. The 787B had variable intake geometry and 3 spark plugs per rotor, unlike Rob's 4 rotor build.
The in car view is a great reminder of just how hard these beasts would be to drive. Just look at the grip on the wheel and how much its fighting. Frickin amazing!
@Gergő Molnár it is still the dog box, they'll have told him to take it easy on the original transmission as they don't want to break the priceless relic
@@KrikkitWarlord and less strain on the driver. I saw an interview and they mentioned fuel economy because they dont need to rev match as much which uses a small amount of fuel each time when added up over 24 hrs can make a difference
@@KrikkitWarlord in endurance races fuel usage is very important -> harder rubber tires and less fuel consumption = less pit stop = more time . This is why diesels took over Le Mand a couple years ago, and now hybrids.
787B will always be one of my favourite ever race cars. Wasn't fancied at all to even last more than a few hours, but somehow won. Never forget how knackered Johnny looked at the end!
That was so great! I have watched it 6 or 7 times now and will watch it every time it comes up in my feed. Great driver driving one of the greatest cars of all time! So relaxing to just watch and listen.
I was there too, helped push car in to garage after park ferme. Chief mechanic gave me my treasured Mazda Speed Hat. Happy days and best sound ever . Well done Mazda and team
30 YEARS Ago TODAY!,, Mazda Won Le Mans, wow JH still as smooth as ever after 20 years. Nothing like a Rotary, after close to 50 years myself I still love the very last real rotary ever made my Series II RX-8, still all original and still going strong, still has a 12 year old LA Battery (INOX works). (RX-3 10A, RX-5, RX-7, RX-8)
I marveled at the origin of the rotary machine! As a man I craved to drive it. Later on in the afternoon I turned on my PS4 and inserted ASSETO CORSA. and what do you know? The same car in this video is in that gorgeous game!! So I take it for a few laps and even in the game it is an utter BEAST of a car. So now I'm stoked. That car is mine lol.u
Such an amazing piece of kit! I love the 787b, always have. Reminds me of a time when it more about the mechanics and driver and less about the computers.
WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW,two great legends in one,Johnny Herbert and Mazda 787B.This is really fabulous,It's like 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans but 20 years later Sorry,my English is not very good.It's my first comment in this language
I was at Le mans 2010.. And you quickly learned to notice / hear when the (back then) Pink Mazda were within a mile.. It screamed like nothing else on the track 🤩Le man, is just something every car fan,, should have on his bucket list 📃✔️😉❤️
I 100 percent know nothing of consequence about auto racing but DAMN. This car and the story around it captivated me and I challenge anyone to come up with a cooler sounding car anywhere in existence. Revs higher than an F1 car but growls lower than a Harley Davidson? Fuck yes. A unicorn
Awwww that's sweet they get him on the podium. Coz he missed stepping up when he won in 91 his teammates got the glory while he rested dehydrated. Or was it the spaghetti?
