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MAZDA 757 (1987)
Car No. 201: Y. Katayama / Y. Terada / T. Yorino
Car No. 202: D. Kennedy / M. Galvin / P. Dieudonne
Qualified: 27th (#201 - 3'45:56) 28th (#202 - 3'47:53)
Race: Withdrawn (#201 after 34 laps), 7th (#202 - 318 laps)
The 55th edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours was one of special circumstances, with all eyes focused on the fight between Jaguar and Porsche. Amidst this battle, there were also many Japanese cars entered. Joining the two TOM'S entries, the team that had made its debut the previous season, was Nissan (NISMO), who brought three Group C machines. Mazdaspeed brought an IMSA GTP challenger and a pair of refined MAZDA 757s, which right away made for a total of seven Japanese-made entries. Against that background, the number of spectators reached a total of 200,000 for Qualifying and the race. The main reason for the increased throng was the many Jaguar supporters who had come over from the U.K., though there was also a healthy number of staff and supporters from Japan.
The MAZDA 757, which had debuted the previous season with both machines withdrawing due to unexpected drive train trouble, had since spent a considerable amount of time in development. Improvements appeared not only with the performance of the 3-rotor engine, but also with the car's torsional rigidity and overall weight saving. In addition, unseen improvements such as to hardware and the machines' maintenance systems, including increased levels of reliability in each area of the car had been also applied.
Nevertheless, only shortly after the race had started, the Japanese crew of the #201 car withdrew after 34 laps due to engine failure. Shortly thereafter, the team's European crew was notified that their machine also had a number of problems. During the night, the car's wiper arm broke, while a problem with the rear suspension arm gave the pit crew cause for concern. Fixing these issues took a total of 50 minutes, and the car ran without issue from then on. After 24 hours' running, the car finished 7th overall, the highest result to that point for a Japanese-made car. They also won the IMSA GTP,GTX class. The car was the only Japanese-entered vehicle that made it to the finish that year.
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