Photo : - Mazda France

The 20th anniversary of Mazda's victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans was celebrated in La Sarthe in June, including the presentation of "NEVER STOP CHALLENGING, MAZDA'S CONQUEST OF LE-MANS" the book of the former driver Pierre Dieudonné (published by Apach).

A great friend of Pierre Dieudonné, Yojiro Terada, shared the Mazda on track adventure with him. Now representative of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest in Japan, the Japanese driver recalls a memory that is very special to him and his compatriots: "When I started, I dreamed of Formula 1, but that dream faded when I joined Mazda. Finally, it was the 24 hours that fulfilled my dream of racing, and the movie "Le Mans" with Steve McQueen played a significant role. All the knowledge I could absorb of the 24 hours came from this movie, and it was also the case for my compatriots in Japan, who were able to learn more about this race. And one of my desires, when I came for the first time to the 24 Hours of Le Mans was to allow my countrymen to hear our national anthem in one of the biggest races of the world." With Pierre Dieudonné and Yojiro Terada, David Kennedy has been a privileged witness of another adventure:" What is extraordinary is that the Japanese have managed to bring together people from around the world," smiled the Irish former driver "is the memory I have of this wonderful tale."

After recounting the achievements and developments of the rotary engine up to to the Le Mans victory in 1991, Pierre Dieudonné mentions the SKYACTIV concept at the end of his book. With the aim of reducing consumption by 30% by 2015, this programme will embody Mazda's ecological aims for the 21st century, and will also accompany the future challenge of the actor/driver Patrick Dempsey, who came to Le Mans in June to drive the 1991 winning Mazda 787B: "I will be at the 24 Hours in 2012, and we will take the opportunity to gather as much information from the LM P2 Programme, and also in view of SKYACTIV, we believe that this concept for reducing consumption has great potential. I had a great support from Mazda in recent years, and the goal of Dempsey Racing is to help their program. " So Mazda SKYACTIV moves forward, twenty years after becoming the first Japanese manufacturer to win at Le Mans.

In the 2011 season, Mazda also sits the top of the standings in the American Le Mans Series as the engine of Lola raced by Chris Dyson and Guy Smith (Dyson Racing). The history, present and future converge for this Japanese manufacturer in this special year...

Jean-Philippe Doret

Photo: 24-HOUR CIRCUIT (Le Mans), 22 & 23 June 1991. Driving the rotary engine 787B, Volker Weidler, Johnny Herbert and Bertrand Gachot made Mazda the first (and only to date) Japanese manufacturer to win in La Sarthe