If you’ve come across car club meets, or even just a bunch of guys with cars of the same brand stopping for coffee and conversation, you’d understand how individuals who share the same affinity towards their rides, would be drawn to converge and just soak in the good vibes. But if that kind of affinity runs so deep, that it turns into a passion that gets passed on to generations, stringing together people from all walks of life, trooping to meet up with entire families in tow, then it becomes a tradition. One that’s revered and much celebrated year after year. Such is the Mazda Fan Festa, and I was very fortunate to take part in it this year.
Now on its 13th year, this year’s is supposedly the biggest so far, and a bunch of us motoring media peeps were made to experience its first leg of three, at the iconic Fuji International Speedway. We were greeted with eye candy even before we alighted from our tour bus, as Mazdas from Fan Festa goers lined up to enter the speedway were alternating between show-quality classics, heavily customized RX-7’s, RX-8’s and of course your everyday stock Mazda SUVs, crossovers and sedans. Once we got to enter the speedway grounds though, we were greeted by what looked like an all-Mazda Tokyo Auto Salon under the cool and crisp open air. Cars so tastefully tuned and modded to the hilt lined the grounds next to tents that carried and sold parts from professional tuning brands, including Mazda’s official AutoExe.
We of course had to find our way to the pits and garages where the super classic Mazda race cars from various generations were housed, in preparation for their special laps around the track. Period correct, pristine and simply looking awesome in their race livery, it was a veritable museum of fine Mazda specimens that old Gentlemen, kids, giddy teeners and everyone in between milled around in, in very palpable appreciation. But the pièce de résistance certainly had to be the Mazda 787B, which we found ourselves making a beeline for. The 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans winning race car, the first Japanese car that won in the series, equipped with a rotary engine at that, was right there in the metal. We also got to meet “Mr. Le Mans” himself, Yojiro Terada. Terada-san holds the record for the most participations of any racer in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, also considered as one of the key persons mainly responsible for bringing Mazda to where it is now in motorsports. For a 77- year-old, he looked radiant and youthful, and after driving the 787B around the Fuji racetrack for several hot laps, he even gave interviews to the media like he just came back from a morning stroll.
A whole day wasn’t enough to cover all the special activities and displays that made up the 2-day Mazda Fan Festa, as there was something for everyone; workshops for kids (future car designers, engineers and racers, actually), tons of merchandise, displays, educational talks, entertainment, even a dog-petting corner (which I totally partook of). There, the 35th Anniversary Mazda MX-5 was put on display, as with the Spirit Racing RS Concept MX-5. Both cars looked absolutely sublime, leaving us hoping they’d hit our shores soon enough.
After spending an entire day at the Fuji Speedway for our Mazda Fan Festa Experience, one can’t help but deeply admire how the brand, rich in motorsport heritage and respected lineage, has earned such loyalty and reverence from its owners- its forever fans. It has made one out of this writer for sure.
