Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.
We visited the Mazda Fan Festa at Fuji Speedway in Japan just over a month ago. The Mazda Fan Festa is a gathering of Mazda fans and owners organized by Mazda Motor Corporation itself. This event is perhaps the holy grail for all Mazda fans in Japan and even worldwide - an event worth the traffic jam of Mazdas to Fuji Speedway. Seeing a fleet of MX-5s, CX-60s, rotary-powered Cosmos, and RX-7s heading to the track was a hair-raising moment.
Mazda RX-7 FD at RE Amemiya's booth
So, imagine the feeling we experienced once we were at the venue, seeing a racetrack we'd typically only encounter in video games like Gran Turismo. It was like meeting the Avengers for the first time.
Unlike the Avengers, these cars weren't fictional. They might be the cars you've mainly driven in video games, but everything at this moment was real, just like the people behind the past and present of Mazda Motor Corp. The event began with a run of Mazda's historical racecars, culminating in a run of the first Japanese racecar to win the 24 hours of Le Mans - the #55 787B. I'd argue that this is a car that should be on any enthusiast's bucket list to see or even hear in person because it's an iconic racecar that's worth celebrating.
The Mazda 787B hurtled down the main straight of Fuji Speedway with its four-rotor rotary engine singing a high-pitched song that's instantly recognizable. Stay close enough to it at full throttle, and it might probably rupture your eardrums. It's really that loud. After the demonstration lap, all four generations of the Mazda MX-5, from the NA to the current ND2, joined the formation at the straight of Fuji Speedway where the brand's top executive alighted.