Mazda achieved one of the greatest upsets in motorsport history by winning the world’s toughest endurance race using an engine design no other manufacturer dared to trust. • Mazda won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991. • The victory was powered by a rotary (Wankel) engine, not a piston engine. • The winning car was the Mazda 787B. • It remains the only Le Mans victory by a Japanese manufacturer. • It is also the only rotary-engine car ever to win Le Mans. • The engine was naturally aspirated, prod

Mazda’s R26B rotary engine helped the 787B make history at Le Mans in 1991, becoming the only rotary-powered car ever to win the endurance race. The 2.6L four-rotor engine produced over 700 horsepower at 9,000 rpm while weighing just 180 kg, creating one of the most iconic sounds in racing. Invented by Felix Wankel, the rotary design replaced pistons with triangular rotors spinning in oval chambers, achieving higher revs with less weight. Though later banned from competition, the 787B and its R2