This Mazda RX-7 is a tribute to Win Percy’s title-winner

With that invitation still open, he looked around for another RX-7 to build that would remain naturally aspirated. “If you can find a Mazda RX-7 in reasonable condition, you’re lucky,” he says. “This was built from a scrap heap. It was almost a year’s work just to get the shell up to a reasonable standard.” 

It’s looking more than reasonable now, finished in the livery that Win Percy wore for his 1981 British Touring Car Championship victory. Well, the same colours he had for the first part of the season. For the remainder, the yellow areas were changed to white.

The complicated class system of BTCC in the early 1980s meant that Percy took the title by consistently leading his class, but he also scored many outright wins against bigger engined, more powerful competition.

“The RX-7 is a proper giant killer,” says Trevor’s son, Alex, who will be driving the car in the new Win Percy Trophy, alongside Emanuele Pirro at the 82^nd Members’ Meeting presented by Audrain Motorsport. “It didn’t hurt that Win Percy is a proper giant killer as well. When I’m in the car, I do my best to channel Win.”

RX-7s haven’t been raced much since that victory year. Trevor is only aware of one other example besides his two that is currently active. It means that development is pretty much down to them, and the two UK-based specialists they trust to work on the rotary engine.

“With all the ordinary straight engines, there have been people working on them and trying to make them go faster and better and more powerful for donkeys’ years,” says Trevor. “With the RX-7, nothing has happened to it from when Win won the championship with it until virtually we got ours out, nothing.”

Even so, that winning potential is still evident in the car. “It’s terrific,” says Alex. “It’s light, nicely poised and beautifully balanced with an interesting noise. It has quite a long wheelbase, so it drifts nicely.

“When it slides you can catch it nicely. It’s a bit like the Capri, it’s a similar kind of layer but just shrunk down smaller. The other car that we race here is a big old 1965 Ford Mustang, so this is like you’re wearing the car after that, it’s like a little go-kart. When you get them right, they can be absolute weapons.” Development is an ongoing process, and one that takes time. “We’ll probably be another couple of years before we get this car to its full potential,” says Trevor. “To get the very best you can out of them, but that’s the challenge.”

And a challenge is something the Goodwood Motor Circuit offers. “Goodwood is amazing,” says Alex. “If you get it wrong, you’re on the grass in the tyre wall so there’s jeopardy. It’s hard not to be a bit aware of that when you're going around, so you give it respect, but at the same time it’s a track where you have to commit.” The outcome of one corner influences the speed down the following straight, a balance between commitment and respect.

Alex also admits that the fact it’s his dad’s car he’s driving is in the back of his mind. “I’ve got to sit next to him in the camper on the way home if I smash it up,” he says. “We’re a humble family team that's doing this on tight resources, so if we bin it, it really, really hurts.”

Despite all that, Alex is hopeful of being at the sharp end of the grid come race day. When we caught up with him at testing it was impossible to say how quickly the RX-7 could lap in race trim because test days are subject to noise restrictions, and the rotary is notoriously loud. When the car lines up on the grid for the Win Percy Trophy, the stifling silencer can be discarded. 

“We’ve gone to great lengths to find an exhaust from New Zealand that enables us to get the sound down to a point where you can drive around Goodwood without all hell breaking loose and your local councillor getting on the phone and shutting you down,” says Alex.

“But how much power is that costing us? It’s like putting a cork in the bottle. We need a second and a half per lap. If we get it right, we should be able to catch the Capris. They’ll get us down the straight, but we should be able to get on the brakes around the bends.”

We’ll find out when the flag drops for the Win Percy Trophy in a couple of weeks’ time.

The 82^nd Members’ Meeting will take place on 12^th and 13^th April 2025 and tickets are now available for Members and Fellows of the GRRC.

If you’re not already a Member or Fellow and you’d like to enjoy all the racing, demos, and other exciting content at the Members’ Meeting, you’ll need to join the GRRC. Click here for more information or to join the club.

Photography by Joe Harding.