Not a powerful car, nor a particularly grippy car. There’s a lot to ridicule the first-generation Mazda RX-7, but it never seems to get much flak. Perhaps that’s because its scintillating sharpness and ease of use that makes it a club racer special.

Most of the opposition walks the RX-7 on any lengthy straight, but that’s hardly surprising. The 13B can rev but it’s no powerhouse — not an atmospheric 1.3-liter. But thankfully, Bathurst is a varied circuit with plenty of opportunities for the Mazda to strut its stuff; outbraking Commodores and passing on the inside at the kink leading off Conrod Straight and into The Chase. That maneuver will cause most people to clench very tightly, and isn’t recommended unless your car’s got a razor-sharp front end. And you’re a go-getter.

In fact, he manages to slide the tail through that very corner for the next several laps. Without a doubt, he’s no amateur, not short on bravery and pretty clever with gaining momentum on his opponents. His braking ability is top-notch, too. Locking the rears after descending a crest, he merely countersteers, runs onto the runoff area and keeps his foot in it, without any hesitation.

The combination of a pointy RX-7 without much in the way of torque means he’s able to keep his foot flat to the floor often. Though he’s a bit short on thrust, that foot-down constantly means he’s gaining momentum quite easily since there’s no throttle-oversteer he has to contend with. In fact, he can floor the throttle around if not slightly before plenty of apexes. Where regular on-off pops of the throttle are needed, he has an advantage. That’s not the only reason why he scorches most of the field, but it is a major contributing factor.