This past week was a tremendous amount of fun getting to be a part of the Monterey Motorsport Reunion at Laguna Seca. I joined Mazda Motorsports with their fleet of heritage race cars that were famous through the late 80s and early 90s—and they’re arguably still famous today!
Flis Performance handles the preparation of these cars, and I was fortunate enough to drive the newly-rebuilt RX-792P, which was the 1992 IMSA GTP entry for Mazda Motorsports. This four-rotor monster is similar to its predecessor, the famous 787, but it does have some significant differences. The main advancement on the 792’s engine is the adjustable intake runners to optimize torque. The other big difference is the amount of aerodynamic focus that the chassis has, specific to the GTP rules during the 1992 season. The 792 creates an incredible amount of grip from its dual-plane wing and huge aerodynamic tunnels that suck the car to the ground.
Getting to jump into the 792P was an incredible experience, one that felt like you were going back in time, but yet still produced the performance similar to a modern-day race car.
The weekend couldn’t have gone better for me. I got to really put the car through its paces and had zero issues with it, which is a real testament to the work Flis Performance has done to this historic car. They have given the 792 a complete refresh since I last drove it at the Long Beach Grand Prix two years ago. It was very fast among the field at Laguna, which included some of the most iconic cars of that era, like the Toyota Eagle Mk III, Porsche 962 and Jaguar XJR.
Those cars raced in the pre-BOP (balance of performance) days, so manufacturers came up with the best fit for the rules. It was interesting to see where each car’s strength was back when the rules were a little more open than the racing we’re accustomed to these days. Hence the 1100hp from the Toyota! It was not only super cool to see all these cars as a racing fan, but it was also cool to compete with them on the race track. It was a totally different dynamic than what I’m used to.
Droves of fans came to watch the engine warmups to listen to these incredibly unique, flame-throwing rotory engines make their music!
Our 792 had a flawless event, and we saw a front-row start in the race and a win, which was a satisfying result after all the effort the team put in to prepare this beautiful car. Be sure to stay tuned for future HSR events that Mazda plans to participate in this winter with its Heritage Collection.
It’s been fun looking back at Mazda’s racing history with these great cars, and now I’m looking forward to the next round of the Mazda MX-5 Cup championship. They’re with IMSA at my home track of Virginia International Raceway this weekend. The championship battle couldn’t be any tighter after the big shakeups at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park last month, and the $250,000 title is still anybody’s to win with only four races remaining.