With its rotary piston engine, Mazda perfectly embodied the spirit of innovation so important to the 24 Hours since its creation. It was a technological gamble that crowned Mazda the first Japanese manufacturer to win Le Mans.

1970 - The first appearance of Mazda's rotary piston engine at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in the Chevron B16 chassis driven by two Belgians, Yves Deprez and Julian Vernaeve.

1980 - Two years after it hit the market, the Mazda RX7 coupe took the start at its first 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing 21st overall driven by Pierre Honegger, Mark Hutchins and Ernesto Soto. In 1981 and 1982, the RX7 was fielded directly by Mazdaspeed.

1983 - After the creation of the Group C regulations in 1982, Mazda made its debut in prototypes with the 717 C in the Group C Junior class, pulling off a stunning one-two led by Yoshimi Katayama, Yojiro Terada and Takashi Yorino.

1987-1989 - With the 757 prototype, Mazda won three class victories in IMSA GTP. In 1987, Pierre Dieudonné, David Kennedy and Mark Galvin also gave the Japanese marque is first top 10 overall (1987). The trio Katayama-Terada-Yorino won in 1988, and Dieudonné and Kennedy clinched their second victory in IMSA GTP the following year along with Chris Hodgetts. In 1989, Mazda achieved a hat trick in IMSA GTP.

1991 - Mazda became the first Japanese manufacturer to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans thanks to Bertrand Gachot, Johnny Herbert and Volker Weidler. When they took the lead late Sunday morning, Japanese television stations interrupted their regular programming to broadcast the last hours of the race live. It was a true triumph with two other cars finishing in the top 10: Stefan Johansson-David Kennedy-Maurizio Sandro Sala (sixth) and Pierre Dieudonné-Yojiro Terada-Takashi Yorino (eighth). "What's extraordinary about this story is that the Japanese managed to gather people from all over the world to work together,"  explains David Kennedy. "That's what I remember most about that wonderful adventure." The Mazda 787 was in good hands thanks to renowned British engineer Nigel Stroud. In illustration of Kennedy's point, in 1991 these were Mazda's drivers: a Brit (Herbert), an Irishman (Kennedy), a Swede (Johansson), an Austrian (Weidler), a Brazilian (Sandro Sala), a Belgian (Dieudonné), two Japanese (Terada and Yorino) and a French-Belgian born in Luxembourg (Gachot)!

1996 - With a Kudzu chassis powered by a 2-liter Mazda rotary engine, Jim Downing, Frank Fréon and Yojiro Terada won the LMP2 class.

2011 - Twenty years after its win, the Mazda 787 B returned to the 24 Hours circuit to celebrate the anniversary. After falling ill getting out of the car back in 1991, Johnny Herbert had been unable to join his teammates on the top step of the podium. After a demonstration on the track, they gave him his own ceremony for the anniversary in 2011. Invited by Mazda that year, driver-actor Patrick Dempsey also got a chance to drive the 787 B: "It was very exciting, but also a little frightening, driving the Mazda 787 B that won the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans. It's a real marvel. I didn't quite get the tires up to the right temp. This car is a Japanese national treasure so I was very careful!"

PHOTOS (Copyright - ACO Archives): Four iconic Mazdas from the 24 Hours of Le Mans: The 787 B winner in 1991 (#55 at the top) and in the gallery below from left to right, the RX7 coupe in 1981, the one-two of the 717 C in Group C Junior in 1982 and the 757 C winner in GTP in 1987.