This is a 1,200bhp rotary-engined Mazda 3 set for Pikes Peak

If you’re a regular on these pages (or at the Goodwood Festival of Speed) you’ll no doubt be aware of the tyre-shredding work that New Zealander Mad Mike Whiddett undertakes on a daily basis.

In 2019 the Red Bull-backed drifter brought a converted Lamborghini Huracán LP580-2 to Lord March’s garden party, but before that every Mad Mike Goodwood appearance was behind the wheel of a rotary-engined Mazda of some sort. 

And now we have some rather exciting news for you, because Whiddett recently confirmed on Instagram that he would compete in this year’s running of the Pikes Peak hillclimb. Oh yeah, and he’ll be driving a 1,200bhp four-rotor Wankel-engined Mazda 3.

The 3 will be rear-wheel drive (because skids) and from the render above it looks like it’ll get a fairly massive aero kit and a quad-exit exhaust that pokes straight out of the bonnet. Expect flames.

That’s about all we know up to this point, but Mad Mike and the bonkers 3 will certainly be worth watching when the race rolls around in June. For now we'll just have to wait patiently for the road-going homologation special, right?