
In order to compete in the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans, Mazda was required to enter all eight rounds of the World Sportscar Championship (SWC), the FIA World Championship at the time. Mazda entered only one car in the SWC, the previous year's Mazda 787, and the schedule was as follows: Suzuka, Monza, Silverstone, Le Mans, Nurburgring, Magny-Cours, Mexico, before returning to Japan for the final round at Autopolis. The series entry number for the SWC was 18, and the two additional entries for Le Mans were designated by the organiser, the ACO, as numbers 55 and 56. On another note, the numbers 18 and 58 were used for the SWC domestic races at Suzuka and Autopolis, and 201 and 202 were used for the national championship (JSPC), while 55 was the car number used only for Le Mans.