(Motorsport-Total.com/Motor1) – The Mazda 767B was actually supposed to be one of the stars of the Monterey Car Week. Instead, footage from the paddock at Laguna Seca shows the prototype with the starting number 203 going up in flames under a tent during the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Pre-Reunion – what was meant to be a bucket list racing week turned into a rather unpleasant moment for fans of the Wankel engine.
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When the fire broke out, the car was stationary, and helpers quickly grabbed fire extinguishers. The Ghost Riders Squad team confirmed in a statement that no one was injured. It is also clear that the privately entered 767B with the starting number 203 will no longer be able to participate in the remaining sessions of the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. This means another screaming four-rotor Wankel is missing from the starting list. What remains are many questions about the extent of the damage.
What is known so far
The affected car was the 1989 Mazda 767B with the starting number 203, correcting early speculation that the fire had hit the better-known car with number 202. Videos and reports from the track agree that the prototype was parked in the Laguna Seca paddock when flames broke out on the left side of the engine cover and thick smoke rose from that area.
This example is chassis 003, the third and last built 767B and one of only three examples of Mazda’s Group C prototype. The vehicle was sold in 2017 at Gooding & Company on Amelia Island for 1,750,000 US dollars (about 1.5 million euros) and has since been prepared by its current owner, American entrepreneur Tony McIntosh, for historic racing events. According to reports from the paddock, Brendon Leitch was named as the driver for the Hurley Haywood Trophy but had not yet completed a timed lap before the fire.
Mazda’s motorsport division emphasized that this 767B is privately owned and not part of the manufacturer’s official heritage collection – an important distinction for anyone fearing that one of Mazda’s factory museum pieces might have been lost. The team thanked the marshals and crew for their quick response, confirmed the car’s withdrawal from the rest of the reunion program, and promised that number 203 will be rebuilt and will “sing” again.
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Vehicle identity and confusion with the 787B
Clips on social media initially misidentified the burning prototype as Mazda’s 787B, the winner of the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans. Later as the 767B with number 202, before media and observers on site confirmed the car as number 203. The confusion was further compounded by the fact that the actual Le Mans-winning 787B (chassis 787B-002) was also at Laguna Seca that same week: it was flown in from Mazda’s collection in Japan and is the centerpiece of the JDM Mazda exhibition at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion.
The presence of the historically most significant Wankel race car on site led early observers to fear the fire might have affected the 787B. Mazda then clarified that the fire involved a different, customer-owned 767B. Once this concern was dispelled, attention turned back to the condition of number 203. So far, there is no official cause, aside from speculation about an issue with oil or fuel combined with heat buildup in the engine bay area.
The Ghost Riders Squad team’s promise to rebuild number 203 instead of writing it off is important because complete 767B chassis are so rare and closely linked to the development of the Le Mans-winning 787B. Anyone wanting to get an impression of how much a race car fire can change a weekend can compare this to an earlier incident where an AMG-GT prototype caught fire during test runs and abruptly ended the session. Laguna Seca has already seen its share of drama, including a sensational accident involving a Nissan GT-R R34 that led to a lawsuit.
More tragic fire victims:
Mazda Furai (2008): The prototype dismantled by Top Gear
Ferrari F40 catches fire in Monaco
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