Keiko Ihara

Keiko Ihara
Keiko Ihara at the 2014 6 Hours of Fuji
Nationality	Japanese
Born	(1973-07-04) July 4, 1973 Tokyo, Japan
FIA World Endurance Championship career
Debut season	2012
Current team	Gulf Racing Middle East
Car no.	29
Starts	2
Wins	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Previous series
2009 2008 2005-06 2005 2004 2003 2003 2002 2001 2000	Formula Le Mans Cup Aston Martin Asia Cup British Formula Three Masters of Formula 3 Le Mans Endurance Series Super GT Formula BMW Asia Asia Formula 2000 French Formula Three Formula Renault 2.0 UK

Keiko Ihara (井原慶子, Ihara Keiko) (born July 4, 1973) is a Japanese female race car driver. She was a former race queen, a model who appears in a swimsuit or other fashionable apparel at race circuits, before deciding to become a racing driver. She is one of the few Japanese women nationals to race internationally at a high level. Her best finishes in the British Formula Three Championship are two 8th places finishes in 2005, which helped her to a final championship standing position of 16th with 12 points. In the 2006 series, she finished in 17th and last position in the Championship Class, with 4 points.

Ihara joined the Gulf Racing Middle East to compete at the FIA World Endurance Championship in the LMP2 class with Jean-Denis Délétraz and Fabien Giroix as codrivers. In 2013 she raced two rounds for Gulf Racing Middle East and four with OAK Racing, both in the LMP2 class. The driver won the Fuji round of the 2014 Asian Le Mans Series for Oak Racing, together with Ho-Pin Tung and David Cheng.

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team Name	Races	Poles	Wins	Podiums	F/Laps	Points	Final Placing
2000	Formula Renault 2.0 UK	Tatuus FR2000	12	0	0	0	0	0	N/A
2001	French Formula Three	ARTA/Signature	11	0	0	0	0	22	13th
2002	Asia Formula 2000	Autosports Racing Team	?	?	2	?	?	?	?
2002	Macau Asian Formula 2000 Challenge	Autosports Racing Team	1	0	0	1	0	N/A	3rd
2003	Super GT GT300 class	R&D Sports	4	0	0	0	0	0	N/A
2003	Formula BMW Asia	Team Yellow Hat	?	?	?	?	?	139	3rd
2004	Le Mans Endurance Series GT class	T2M Motorsport	1	0	0	0	0	0	N/A
2005	British Formula Three	Carlin Motorsport	22	0	0	0	0	12	17th
2005	Masters of Formula 3	Carlin Motorsport	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	25th
2006	British Formula Three	Carlin Motorsport	22	0	0	0	0	4	17th
2008	Aston Martin Asia Cup		1	0	0	0	0	0†	N/A†
2009	Formula Le Mans Cup	Exagon Engineering	1	0	0	0	0	1	49th
2012	Dubai 24 Hour SP3 GT4-A class	Gulf Team First	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	50th
2012	FIA World Endurance Championship LMP2 class	Gulf Racing Middle East	8	0	0	0	0	2	70th
2013	FIA World Endurance Championship LMP2 class	Gulf Racing Middle East OAK Racing	7	0	0	0	0	12	22nd
2013	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2	Gulf Racing Middle East	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF

^* Season still in progress. † – Charity race guest.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2012	Gulf Racing Middle East	Jean-Denis Délétraz Marc Rostan	Lola B12/80-Nissan	LMP2	17	DNF	DNF
2013	Gulf Racing Middle East	Fabien Giroix Philippe Haezebrouck	Lola B12/80-Nissan	LMP2	22	DNF	DNF
2014	Larbre Compétition	Pierre Ragues Ricky Taylor	Morgan LMP2-Judd	LMP2	341	14th	9th

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Year	Entrant	Class	Car	Engine	Tyres	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Rank	Points
2012	Gulf Racing Middle East	LMP2	Lola B12/80	Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8	D	SEB EX	SPA 9	LMS Ret	SIL 11	SÃO 9	BHR Ret	FUJ 6	SHA Ret	70th	2
2013	Gulf Racing Middle East	LMP2	Lola B12/80	Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8	D	SIL	SPA 9	LMS Ret						22nd	12
2013	OAK Racing	LMP2	Morgan LMP2	Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8	D				SÃO 5	COA	FUJ 9	SHA 6	BHR 5	22nd	12
2014	Larbre Compétition	LMP2	Morgan LMP2	Judd HK 3.6 L V8	M	SIL	SPA	LMS 9						N/A	N/A
2014	OAK Racing	LMP2	Morgan LMP2	Judd HK 3.6 L V8	D				COA	FUJ 3	SHA	BHR 3	SÃO	N/A	N/A

External links

Official website (Japanese)
Keiko Ihara career summary at DriverDB.com

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