In September of this year, RotaryNews was very privileged to be invited to
attend the first shakedown runs of the freshly restored 1979 Daytona winning
SA22C RX-7 racer. Mr. Jim Mederer of Racing Beat was invited to do the test
driving and shakedown this special day. RotaryNews was allowed to photograph
the test session for internal purposes and we have now been given permission
to share the images with the rest of the Rotary Community. The images
include Mazda and Rotary personalities from the past, present and future. If
you look closely, you'll see 'Koby' Kobayakawa (if you have to ask..), Ken
Kenoshita (former Mazda Motorsport Manager), Kazuo Takada (one of the
original "47 rotary engineers" at Mazda), Jim Mederer (Racing Beat founder),
Kelvin Hiraishi (Mazda R&D Director), Tod Kaneko (MazdaSpeed Manager),
Weldon Munsey (RX-8 Product Manager) and a few other assorted characters.

Project 'X', as the restoration was known internally at the Mazda R&D
Center, was undertaken as a team building exercise by the R&D staff. R&D
Director, Kelvin Hiriashi, along with North American MazdaSpeed Manager, Tod
Kaneko and RX-8 Product Manager, Weldon Munsey, led an employee team of
dedicated rotary enthusiast in both the mechanical and aesthetic revival of
this icon Rotary racer. This internal enthusiasm and respect for the Rotary
engine at Mazda NA, bodes well for the future of Rotary power in America.

Click on any of the thumbnails for a full size image