Mazda 787B Le Mans car to star at 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed
Victorious rotary-engined racer will head up a Mazda showcase at this year’s event
In 1991, Mazda became both the first, and only Japanese manufacturer to ever win the Le Mans 24 Hours.
It also did so with a unique engine – a rotary unit with four rotors, three spark plugs per chamber and maximum power of over 700bhp at 9000rpm.
That car will star at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed as part of a larger tribute to the Mazda brand.
Among exhibits of the new Mazda2, the CX-3 compact crossover and the all-new Mazda MX-5, the festival will celebrate Mazda’s unique engineering achievements through the years – from its persistence with rotary technology to the fuel-efficient Skyactiv engines currently installed throughout the Mazda range.
Mazda UK managing director Jeremy Thompson’s cites Mazda as the only manufacturer to perfect the rotary engine, the only manufacturer to use a Miller cycle engine and the firm that developed the smallest production V6.
All of those can be contested to some degree – Nissan currently sells a Miller cycle Micra, Mitsubishi developed a 1.6-litre V6 back in the 1990s and the rotary is arguably a long way from perfection – but Mazda’s use of such technology is illustrative of a company that has consistently pushed the boundaries of design and engineering.
Mazda vehicles will feature on the famous Goodwood hillclimb, on the estate’s forest rally stage and on June 25, visitors will be able to sample the firm’s current range in the popular Moving Motor Show.
Click on the images above to see a full gallery of the stunning orange and green 787B Le Mans racer.
