1. 1991: the Mazda 787B

It’s one of the great fairy tales in motorsport — and it can never happen again.

At the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Mazda 787B — the famous #55 in its orange-and-green “Charge” colours — took overall victory, driven by Johnny Herbert, Volker Weidler and Bertrand Gachot. It was the first win for any Japanese manufacturer, and to this day the only Le Mans win by a car not using a conventional piston engine: its four-rotor Wankel powerplant produced around 700PS in a body weighing just 830kg.¹

2. “Le Japon Attack”

Mazda’s win was the breakthrough of a much bigger campaign. Through the late 1980s, Japan’s carmakers all announced assaults on Le Mans — an effort the French press nicknamed “Le Japon Attack.” Toyota and Nissan poured resources into the race’s fearsome Group C era and repeatedly came up short. It was little Mazda, with its unconventional rotary, that got there first.¹

3. 2018: Toyota’s redemption

Then came one of sport’s longest waits. After years of heartbreak — including a famous last-lap failure in 2016 — Toyota finally won Le Mans in 2018, the first Japanese victory since Mazda in 1991, 27 years on. Toyota then turned that breakthrough into a era of dominance in endurance racing’s top class.²

For the full account of Toyota’s endurance era — and its WRC and Super GT programmes — see our Toyota Motorsport Story.

4. Why it matters

• It’s Japan’s most romantic motorsport story. A small maker, an outlawed engine, a once-in-history win.
• It set up a 27-year quest. The gap to Toyota’s 2018 win is part of what makes both victories special.
• It’s four-wheel heritage at its best. Endurance racing is where Japan’s engineering ambition shows clearest.