Two Mazda 787Bs will run at the Mazda Fan Festa 2026 in Japan this October
The Mazda Fan Festa is an annual event held by Mazda in its home country to celebrate the brand and, most importantly, its community. Usually held in famous race tracks like Okayama, the main spectacle is the leg held in the Fuji Speedway, as the manufacturer pulls out all the stops and brings out the likes of the legendary 787B race car, letting the public hear its legendary quad-rotor scream down the main straight.
However, this time around for 2026, to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Mazda’s legendary 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans win, this Fan Festa will showcase and have demo runs of not one, but two 787Bs. Apart from the race-winning #55 car (787B-002) dressed in the iconic RENOWN livery, the #202 car (787B-003) will be brought out wearing the CHARGE livery without headlights.
There will also be a special commemorative photo shoot area in the pit garage with the 787B, talk with Yojiro Terada, alongside being able to try a lunch menu (called à la Table du Mans) of what the team ate during the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans, made by Masayo Waki, the actual team chef. This will cost you a staggering 180,000 JPY (roughly Php 68,000).
Alongside the 787Bs, a whole slew of racing cars from the past to the present will be on display, and they will also do a demo run—something worth catching live in person, and lucky guests can also ride in the #55 Mazda Spirit Racing 3 Future concept and #12 Mazda Spirit Racing RS Future concept cars.
Apart from this, there will be heritage test drives available for the FC Savanna RX-7, the FD Efini RX-7 (manual), and an RX-8 (automatic)—however, this is limited to 15 minutes and can only be entered by a LINE Lottery by Japanese residents.
There will be a special exhibition of classic cars, overseas models such as the 6e and CX-6e, including a special display by Shuichi Shigeno, the author of Initial D and MF Ghost, where a reproduction RX-7 from Initial D will be on display, alongside the RX-8, Mazda Spirit Racing Roadster 12R (from Subaru and Subaru).
Of course, various parts, exhibits, and car clubs will be present. The event will take place on Saturday, October 3 (7:00am to 7:30pm) to Sunday, October 4 (7:00am to 6:30pm), and tickets will go on sale online on July 16, with on-site tickets available. For more information, you can visit the website, which will be updated with more information as the event comes closer.
Photos by Sam Surla and Mazda Japan
