Mazda At Le Mans, A Pictorial History, 30 Years On From Their 1991 Win
Photography by Mazda
Mazda’s factory Le Mans Challenge dates back to 1974. At the time, Mazda Auto Tokyo Motorsports Division, which was competing in the Fuji Grand Champion Series and Fuji Touring Car Series, decided to challenge the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Sigma Automotive. However, the attempt was hastily carried out, and the team was embarrassed by various problems and could not finish the race.
Mazda Auto Tokyo, which had turned the first RX-7 into a Le Mans car, received support from the factory, and in 1983 became independent as Mazdaspeed Corporation, a company specializing in Mazda motorsports. Since then, the company continued to challenge at Le Mans through trial and error, gradually improving performance and reliability and scoring class-winning success until, in 1991, the Mazda 787B finally took overall victory at Le Mans.
1970 Le Mans 24 Hours – Vernaeve / Deprez Chevron B16 Mazda – The first Appearance Of The Marque At Le Mans
1970 Le Mans 24 Hours – Vernaeve / Deprez Chevron B16 Mazda – The first Appearance Of The Marque At Le Mans
1970 Le Mans 24 Hours – Vernaeve / Deprez Chevron B16 Mazda – The first Appearance Of The Marque At Le Mans
1983 Le Mans 24 Hours – Mazda 717C Group C Junior – A Two Car Effort Saw A Class 1/2 –
The #60 Driver Squad Took The Class Win – 12th Overall – Takashi Yorino / Terada / Yoshimi Katayama – The Sister #61 Car Took 18th Overall – 2nd In Class With James Weaver, Jeff Allam and Steve Soper
En Route To The 1983 Class Win
The Factory Entered A Pair Of Heavily Revised Mazda 727s In 1984 At Le Mans – But Both Were Beaten By A Pair Of BF Goodrich-Backed Lola T616 Mazdas, The Pair Claimed The C2 Class Win (10th Overall) And Third – The Factory Cars Came home 4th and 6th In Class. The Class Winning #68 Lola Mazda Was Driven By John O’Steen, John Morton and Yoshimi Katayama
The Sister Lola T616 Mazda Was Driven By Jim Busby, Boy Hayje and Rick Knoop
1987 would see a pair of Mazda 757s entered by the factory – One would retire early on but the other would go on the score another class win for Mazda – In IMSA GTP, and a best yet seventh place fininsh for a Japanese marque.
The successful #202 crew were Pierre Dieudonné and Irish pairing David Kennedy and Mark Galvin
The foundations were being laid for even greater triumphs to come.
1989 and the first year with the power-boosted 767B – Three cars entered Le Mans – and all three would finish – sweeping the podium in IMSA GTP
Whilst the #201 for Diueudonne, Kennedy and late stand-in Chris Hodgetts – would win the class, the #202 for Takashi Yorino, Hervé Regout and Elliot Forbes-Robinson would finish strongly too
The #203 for Yojiro Terada, Marc Duez, and Volker Weidler
The class winning #201
A big push in 1990 with a pair of new 787s did not pay off
Both the #201 and #202 would retire leaving the older #203 767B as the sole finished – 20th overall and IMSA GTP winner again
#201 Ploughing On
The #202 – close to retirement
In 1991 It Would All Come Good!
The #55 Mazda 787B Would Lead Early On and Thereafter Would dDrive Almosts Faultlessy To A Famous Win – The First For The Marque, For A Rotary Engined Car And For Any Japanese Marque!
Johnny Herbert, Volker Weidler And Bertrand Gachot Would Become The Heroes Of Japan
To The Victors The Spoils!
A Day In The Sun Beckoned!
Factory Line-Up At Scrutineering
It Even Looks Loud!
A Le Mans Icon
The Japanese Flag Flew On The Gantry – But In 1991 The Podium Wasn’t There!
