Still CHALLENGING

For decades, Japan was one of the minnows of world motorsport. For many of the marques out of the country now revered for pushing performance boundaries of its production cars, the stories detailing their rise to the peak of competition typically represent an arduous grind rather than a quick grasp of success.

Toyota toiled to the pinnacle of world rallying. Nissan ascended to Group A touring car domination. But perhaps the strongest tale of grinding against the odds belongs to Mazda, and its efforts to conquer the heights of world endurance racing—in particular, reaching that top step of the podium after pounding the tarmac for 24 hours at Circuit de la Sarthe, known better as ‘Le Mans’.

Mazda’s efforts prevailed, culminating in a fairy-tale win over the European behemoths in 1991. That car, revered the world over by rotary fans, was the Mazda 787B. Built to Group C regulations and powered by the almost-mythical