Mazda Heritage Collection Stands Out at Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion

MONTEREY, Calif. (Aug. 21, 2024) – The Mazda Heritage Collection shined during the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, August 14 – 18. The collection’s 1989 Mazda 767B, 1991 Mazda RX-7 GTO and 1992 Mazda RX-792P were all back in action on track and the California canyons echoed with the sound of rotary power.

The RX-792P arrived in Monterey fresh off a full rebuild by Flis Performance. Longtime Mazda ace Tom Long had the pleasure of driving the high-revving machine and even came away with a win in class.

“The 792 is an incredible car, and despite it being a ‘classic’, it still carries over many modern-day performance metrics with its astonishing amount of downforce and braking capability created by the huge dual plane wing and tunnels under the car,” Long said with a smile. “However, there is still plenty of nostalgia with its h-pattern gearbox and many toggle switches on the dash rather than all the electronic buttons of modern prototypes. Overall the pure power, and sound created with the four-rotor monster strapped to your back is just a thrill to drive.”

Longtime Mazda factory driver Jonathan Bomarito was once again behind the wheel of the 767B and finished fifth in the same class.

New to the Heritage Collection, but no stranger to Mazda, two-time Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin Champion Jared Thomas was extended an invitation to drive the RX-7 GTO. In his first historic race ever, Thomas took the class win.

“Driving the Mazda RX-7 GTO racecar was an absolute blast and a dream come true,” Thomas said. “I can’t thank everybody at Mazda Motorsports and Flis Performance enough for making this happen. Hopefully I can do it again! I wasn’t surprised to get a win. I know that car, in its heyday was a very successful race car and I knew that it already got some wins on the historic circuit, so winning was the goal and I was glad to accomplish it.”

The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion is the crown jewel of historic racing events in the United States and the Mazda Heritage Collection was a showstopper.

“The Rolex Reunion was a huge success for the Mazda Heritage Collection both on and off the track.” Mazda Senior Manager, Motorsports Jonathan Applegate said. “Even amongst all these legendary, priceless race cars, as soon as we started warming up one of those rotary engines, we had everyone’s attention.

“We love getting race wins at Mazda, but we also love to challenge ourselves and that’s exactly what Flis Performance did in rebuilding the 792P and what Jared did, taking over the RX-7 for the first time. I’m extremely proud of everyone who took part in showcasing Mazda’s history at the Rolex Reunion.”

Next on the agenda for the Mazda Heritage Collection is the HSR Classic Daytona, October 30 – November 3 at Daytona International Speedway.