First Rotary to Win Le Mans

[@tfsvids4117]

I loved how you know 787b just when by because of the high pitched sound

[@gchampi2]

NOT BANNED! Outlawed when the rules changed. There is a difference. The engine rules for Group C went from being a fuel mileage controlled category, where engine size & configuration was up to the builder, but you only got a limited amount of fuel to complete the race on, to a mandated displacement & configuration, where you could only run 3.5L N/A engines. The Mazda cars had previously run under Group C2, which was a lower power/lower weight/lower fuel usage variation of Gp.C, and had won their class several times previously at Le Mans. Le Mans, being it's own thing, was willing to let the old Group C cars race in Group C2 when the 3.5L regs came in, but only in restricted form - air restrictors on the engine, less fuel, regular Gp C weight, etc. The thing was that Mazda, having already been in C2, didn't have to make any changes to comply with the C2 regulations, whereas all the other "C2" teams did have to make changes. Changes that were (for the most part) untested over 24 hours of competition. So, the Mazda 787b beat it's competitors on reliability, not speed. The "New 3.5L Group C" cars were seconds a lap faster, but suffered from extended periods in the pits while various new car gremlins were fixed. Had it not been for those gremlins, they would've won easily. The old Group C cars that were modified to run in Group C2 pretty much all had engine problems, usually overheating due to running too lean. Several went out with holed/melted pistons. Meanwhile, the Mazda stayed on track, never the fastest car, but it kept on running for the full 24 hours, and won overall by NOT BREAKING DOWN. As for the Rotary being banned - not so. The rules were changing, this rule change had been public for roughly 2 YEARS by the time of Le Mans 91, and if the Rotary was banned, so was Jaguar's 7.4L V12, Toyota's Turbocharged 3.6L V8, the Porsche Turbo flat-6, and so on. Yet nobody bothers yelling about those being "banned", only the 787b & Mazda... If you want to see a car that really was "BANNED", look up the car Jeff Gordon ran at The Winston All Star race in 1997. Known as T-Rex, it raced once, won, and was instantly banned from competition - even while being fully compliant with the rules. When Ray Evernham protested that the car was legal, he was told "It won't be in the morning". THAT's BANNED. Not "written out of the rules for the following season". That's just being outlawed...

[@TinyBearTim]

Milk

[@lumemotive]

And cereal