to make it to the podium, leaving Weidler and Gachot to take up the celebrations. He later commented in a magazine interview that some “dodgy” spaghetti he ate before his shift was the cause. The winning car ran without a hitch apart from a blown headlamp bulb and a precautionary rear wheel bearing change on the driver's side of the car, when a regular check during a pit-stop showed it to be overheating slightly. The victory was a major success for Mazda after several years of poor results. Complete World Sportscar Championship results (Results in bold indicate pole position and results in italics indicate fastest lap) After Le Mans The 787B After Le Mans, the winning car (787B-002) was retired from duty while the other two cars (787B-001 and new 787B-003) continued to race. Mazda would go on to finish fourth and fifth in the Japanese and world championship respectively, with a season high (besides Le Mans) third in the 1000 km Fuji race (a JSPC race). As Mazda used different drivers throughout the season, none of their drivers finished in the top 10 in points. After the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 787B would compete once more at the last race of the season, the 1991 430 km of Autopolis (finishing 9th and 10th). At the end of the season, the Group C series was replaced by the 3.5-litre World Sports Championship and therefore Wankel-type rotary engines would no longer be allowed to run as they were outlawed and, as per Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's earlier decision, 3.5-litre engines similar to those used in Formula One became the new formula for the 1992 season. The following year, Mazda entered the MXR-01, based on the Jaguar XJR-14 and powered by a Judd unit, without much success (placed fourth at Le Mans in 1992). Despite the Le Mans success of the 787B and its Wankel powerplant, Mazda did not exploit its historic victory through marketing campaigns and advertising. It partially improved sales for Mazda's road cars, however. In the United Kingdom, Mazda would introduce a special edition of its MX-5 with the racing colour and also a BBR (Brodie Brittain Racing) turbo conversion; only 24 were produced and the car is one of the most sought after special edition cars of its model. Long a proponent of the rotary engine, Mazda maintained a rotary-engine road car for many years,