Le Mans sports cars and the Repco Adelaide Motorsport Festival go hand-in-hand, so a new category devoted to the prototypes of the past has been unveiled.
Three Le Mans entries from the past have been already confirmed in what will be a major attraction of the event.
The iconic Mazda 787B headlines the first entries as the Japanese manufacturer’s sole Le Mans winner in 1991 and the first to feature a rotary engine. The 787B raced at all the classic endurance events including the aforementioned 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Daytona and the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship in its quad-rotor configuration producing 630hp.
On top of it being the first Le Mans win for a Japanese manufacturer, it’s reliability ensured it made up for any shortcomings in the power department to perform strongly until regulations changed in the World Sportscar Championship.
It remains a popular model as its legacy continues in the Gran Turismo line of video games.
Joining the Mazda is a Japanese rival in the form of Nissan’s R88C Group C prototype, which raced in the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship and World Sportscar Championship.
Le Mans was also on the radar, with competition for the first Japanese win between Nissan, Toyota and Mazda fierce during the late-1980s.
Nissan’s entry was powered by a 3.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8 making around 950hp and ran a program in Europe where Australian Alan Heaphy was involved.
Another Australian in Allan Grice raced the R88 at Le Mans, but it proved a disappointing campaign for Nissan as a 15th was its best result.
As previously released on this site, the Kremer Racing Porsche 962C is the third entrant showcasing the variety this class can potentially have.
The 2025 Repco Adelaide Motorsport Festival will be held on March 8-9.