Today, we can watch "Le Mans 24 hours" on T.V. in Japan,
but in '70s, it was so far away form Japan.

The first Japanese engine to challenge to this traditional endurance race
which began in 1923 was '70 MAZDA rotary .

An private team who used a British made chevron chassis was the one joined this race.
They started at grid 40th place.
Although the result was a retirement, they made a memorable first step for Japan and Mazda.

After 3 years (1973), MAZDA Rotary had Japan made Siguma's chassis and tried the race.
This was the first time to run Le Man with Japanese drivers.

And in 1979, they challenged again with the machine which was modified Savanna RX-7.
Le man became a familiar to Japanese people very quickly.