Japan occupied a prominent place on the world stage of circuit motorsport in the early 1990s. Honda earned five Formula 1 drivers titles and as many manufacturers trophies between 1986 and 1990 (with Williams then McLaren), while Toyota, Mazda and Nissan gave priority to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Mazda had already secured its first class wins when Toyota took its rookie start in 1985. Nissan made it first appearance in 1990.

1990 | Nissan goes up against Jaguar

The 58th running was first marked by a major change to the circuit, namely the addition of two chicanes at the six-kilometre Mulsanne Straight, for a loss of lap times estimated at about 15 seconds.

During Wednesday's free practice, Mark Blundell and his R90 CK clocked the first time to beat at 03:33.28, before giving a stunning performance during qualifying the next day. With a time of 03:27.02, the British driver made Nissan the first Japanese constructor to clinch pole position at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The car's racing number? 24. The race set the stage for an Anglo-Japanese duel with Jaguar, refereed by the private Porsche 962 Cs since the factory team had bowed out in 1988 and the previous year's winner, Sauber-Mercedes, was a no-show.

The battle did not disappoint. The Nissan shared by Mark Blundell/Julian Bailey/Gianfranco Brancatelli led the standings at the end of the second and third hours before being delayed by a collision that cost the car two laps.

It was then up to the Nissan driven by Geoff Brabham/Chip Robinson/Derek Daly to hold Jaguar at bay, as well as the Porsche of Walter Brun/Jésus Pareja/Oscar Larrauri, the best private 962 C. The Japanese prototype held the lead in the eighth, ninth and 10th hours, but was forced to retire on Sunday shortly before 09:00 while in third position. The #24 was also forced to leave the race with transmission problems during the night.

Jaguar claimed the top step on the podium, but the Nissan team left with heads held high after securing pole position and clocking the fastest in-race lap thanks to American driver Bob Earl (03:40.030) in the #84 (17th under the chequered flag along with Steve Millen and Michael Roe). The #23 finished fifth and made history on Saturday: during the second lap of the race, Masahiro Hasemi, and by extension teammates Toshio Suzuki and Kazuyoshi Hoshino, became the first Japanese drivers ever to lead the race when the leaders stopped to refuel.

Toyota figured in the top 10 with sixth place for Geoff Lees/Masanori Sekiya/Hitoshi Ogawa while Mazda scored another class victory (20th overall). But its winning streak was about to end...

Mazda's historic win

At the 1991 24 Hours, Toyota and Nissan chose not to participate, Sauber Mercedes returned, Jaguar took the start once again, and Peugeot thrilled the crowd with the first appearance of its 905 prototype. For Mazda and its three cars, it was the final opportunity for its rotary engine technology, authorised for the last time by the regulations.

After briefly leading the race early on, to the cheers of French spectators, the Peugeot 905 ceded the number one spot to Sauber-Mercedes who held it from the second to the 21st hour.

Meanwhile, the top Mazda (#55) driven by Johnny Herbert/Bertrand Gachot/Volker Weidler steadily climbed in the classification. After reaching the top 5 in the 10th hour, the car claimed the third step on the provisional podium by mid-race before taking the second spot in the 13th hour.

Free of any serious reliability concerns, the other two Mazdas proved just as consistent: David Kennedy/Stefan Johansson/Mauricio Sandro-Sala (#18) and Pierre Dieudonné/Yojiro Terada/Takashi Yorino (#56) made it into the top 10 overall at dawn on Sunday.

It seemed however like no one would be able to stop the Sauber-Mercedes of Jean-Louis Schlesser/Jochen Mass/Alain Ferté from winning after starting from the pole and holding the lead for more than 16 hours. But the race was turned on its head at 12:54 when Ferté returned to pit lane for more than half an hour with a cooling problem. After attempting to restart, the #1 Sauber-Mercedes was forced to retire after leading the race for 257 laps.

With Mazda's trio Herbert/Gachot/Weidler in first position, Japanese television channels tossed their regularly scheduled programming to broadcast the end of the race live. The marque became the first Japanese manufacturer to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, followed by three Jaguars who were never contenders for the win. In the wake of a flawless performance, the #18 and #56 Mazdas finished sixth and eighth, respectively. As a consultant, Jacky Ickx earned himself a seventh victory in a way by providing the constructor with his invaluable experience as a six-time winner.

Twenty-seven years and multiple podiums later, Toyota joined Mazda in the 24 Hours hall of fame, and at this year's Centenary on 10-11 June hopes to match Ferrari and Porsche as the third marque with six consecutive victories at the race.

PHOTOS (Copyright - ACO/Archives): LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 1990-1991 24 HOURS OF LE MANS: the 1991 winner #55 Mazda 787B under the Dunlop bridge for the British tyre supplier's 34th and last victory to date; the Nissans of Blundell/Brancatelli/Bailey (#24), Brabham/Robinson/Daly (#83), Hasemi/Hoshino/Suzuki (#23) and Roe/Earl/Millen (#84) in 1990; four Mazdas at Scrutineering for the 1991 24 Hours, but only three took the start; the Mazda 787Bs of Kennedy/Johansson/Sandro Sala (#18) and 787 of Dieudonné/Terada/Yorino (#56) in 1991; the celebration in 2011 of the 20th anniversary of Mazda's win who at that time was still the only Japanese constructor to win the 24 Hours, seven years before Toyota.