RX-7 | Race success across the globe

Race success across the globe.

Launched in 1978, the Mazda RX-7 achieved competition success across the globe in a myriad of different championships and specifications.

Victories included taking the GTU class win in the 1979 Daytona 24 Hours and championship victories in the 1980 and 1981 British Touring Car Championship.

 

With victory in the 1981 Spa 24 Hours, the RX-7 also claimed Mazda’s first outright 24 Hour win. Driven by Pierre Dieudonne and Tom Walkinshaw the RX-7 gave Mazda the honour of being the first Japanese company to win the famous Belgian race. This iconic Mazda (pictured below) will be seen on the hill at the 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

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Across the globe the RX-7 proved to be a popular race car for professional teams and amateur drivers alike. With many wins in Australia, North America and Europe, the RX-7’s success earnt it a cult following amongst sports car fans.

Highly modified RX-7s competed at Le Mans from 1979 to 1982, but it was in IMSA racing in the United States that all-out race RX-7s really made their mark.

Here the RX-7 scored an unmatched 100 wins in just 12 years of IMSA competition. An example of the amazing range of racing RX-7s built in the 80s and 90s, the fearsome four-rotor 640bhp spaceframe 1991 RX-7 GTO (pictured below) will thrill fans at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.

It ran in the 1990 and 1991 IMSA GTO championship and won four races in 1991 on the way to taking the driver’s and manufacturer’s championships.

In the hands of Japanese privateers Team Arnature, it even took part in the 1994 Le Mans 24 Hours, with Mazda Le Mans legend Yojiro Terada amongst the driving squad.

As the amazing on-board footage below proves, it’s sure to be one of the stars of this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.

 

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