Keiko Ihara

{{short description|Japanese racing driver}} {{BLP sources|date=January 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2026}} {{Infobox racing driver | name = Keiko Ihara | image = Keiko Ihara 2014 WEC Fuji.jpg | imagesize = | caption = Keiko Ihara at the [[2014 6 Hours of Fuji]] | nationality = {{flagicon|JPN}} Japanese | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1973|07|04}} | birth_place = [[Tokyo]], Japan | racing_licence = [[File:FIA Silver Driver.png|12px]] FIA Silver {{small|(until 2013)}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.autosport.be/u/2013/24hlemans/entry-list-24-heures-du-mans-2013-17-JUN-2013-19.00.pdf|title=Entry List 24 Heures du Mans 2013|website=autosport.be|publisher=[[Automobile Club de l'Ouest]]|date=17 June 2013|access-date=3 January 2026}}</ref> [[File:FIA Bronze Driver.png|12px]] FIA Bronze {{small|(2014–)}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.autosport.be/u/2014/24hlemans/entry-list-24-heures-du-mans-2014-05-20.pdf|title=Entry List 24 Heures du Mans 2014|website=autosport.be|publisher=[[Automobile Club de l'Ouest]]|date=20 May 2014|access-date=3 January 2026}}</ref> | current_series = [[FIA World Endurance Championship]] | first_year = [[2012 FIA World Endurance Championship|2012]] | current_team = [[Larbre Compétition]] | car_number = 50 | former_teams = | starts = 2 | wins = 0 | poles = 0 | fastest_laps = 0 | best_finish = | year = | prev_series = [[Formula Le Mans Cup]] [[Aston Martin Asia Cup]] [[British Formula Three]] [[Masters of Formula 3]] [[Le Mans Endurance Series]] [[Super GT]] [[JK Racing Asia Series|Formula BMW Asia]] [[Formula Asia|Asia Formula 2000]] [[French Formula Three Championship|French Formula Three]] [[Formula Renault 2.0 UK]] | prev_series_years = [[2009 Formula Le Mans Cup season|2009]] 2008 [[2005 British Formula Three season|2005]]-[[2006 British Formula Three season|06]] 2005 [[2004 1000km of Monza|2004]] 2003 2003 2002 2001 2000 | titles = | title_years = | awards = | award_years = }} '''Keiko Ihara''' (井原慶子, ''Ihara Keiko'') (born July 4, 1973) is a Japanese race car driver and businesswoman. 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 3 International Series|British Formula Three Championship]] are two eighth places finishes in [[2005 British Formula Three season|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 four 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.

As of 2025, Ihara is president of Future, a developer of hydrogen-assisted bicycles.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Honi |first=Hiroto |date=December 2, 2025 |title=モビリティーの実験場に三重・多気町などが合同で新プロジェクト |url=https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASTD145BWTD1ONFB00JM.html |access-date=2026-01-16 |work=[[Asahi Shimbun]] |language=ja}}</ref>

==Racing record==

===Career summary=== {| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%; text-align:center" ! Season ! Series ! Team ! Races ! Wins ! Poles ! Podiums ! F/Laps ! Points ! Position |- ! 2000 |align=left nowrap| [[2000 Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship|Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship]] |align=left| | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |- ! 2001 |align=left| [[2001 French Formula Three Championship|French Formula 3 Championship]] |align=left| [[Autobacs Racing Team Aguri|ARTA]]/[[Signature Team|Signature]] | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 13th |- !rowspan=2| 2002 |align=left| Asian Formula 2000 |align=left rowspan=2| Autosports Racing Team | ? | 2 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |- |align=left| Macau Asian Formula 2000 Challenge | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | N/A |style="background:#FFDF9F;"| '''3rd''' |- !rowspan=2| 2003 |align=left| [[2003 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship|JGTC - GT300]] |align=left| R&D Sports | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |- |align=left| [[2003 Formula BMW Asia season|Formula BMW Asia]] |align=left| Team Yellow Hat | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 139 |style="background:#FFDF9F;"| '''3rd''' |- ! 2004 |align=left| [[2004 Le Mans Endurance Series|Le Mans Endurance Series - GT]] |align=left| T2M Motorsport | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |- !rowspan=2| 2005 |align=left| [[2005 British Formula 3 International Series|British Formula 3 International Series]] |align=left rowspan=2| [[Carlin Motorsport]] | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 17th |- |align=left| [[2005 Masters of Formula 3|Masters of Formula 3]] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 25th |- ! 2006 |align=left| [[2006 British Formula 3 International Series|British Formula 3 International Series]] |align=left| [[Carlin Motorsport]] | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 17th |- ! 2008 |align=left| Aston Martin Asia Cup |align=left| | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A† |- ! 2009 |align=left| [[2009 Formula Le Mans Cup season|Formula Le Mans Cup]] |align=left| [[Exagon Engineering]] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 49th |- ! rowspan="2" | 2012 | align="left" nowrap| [[2012 FIA World Endurance Championship season|FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2]] | rowspan="2" align="left" nowrap| [[Fabien Giroix|Gulf Racing Middle East]] | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ? | ? |- |align=left| [[2012 24 Hours of Le Mans|24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2]] |1 |0 |0 |0 |0 |N/A |DNF |- ! rowspan="3" | 2013 | rowspan="2" align="left" | [[2013 FIA World Endurance Championship season|FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2]] |align=left| [[Fabien Giroix|Gulf Racing Middle East]] | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | rowspan="2" | 35 | rowspan="2" | 10th |- |align=left| [[OAK Racing]] |4 |0 |0 |0 |0 |- | align="left" | [[2013 24 Hours of Le Mans|24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2]] | align="left" | [[Fabien Giroix|Gulf Racing Middle East]] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | DNF |- ! rowspan="3" | 2014 |align=left| [[2014 Asian Le Mans Series|Asian Le Mans Series - LMP2]] |align=left| [[OAK Racing|OAK Racing Team Total]] |1 |1 |0 |0 |1 |25 |5th |- |align=left| [[2014 European Le Mans Series|European Le Mans Series - LMP2]] | rowspan="2" align=left| [[Larbre Compétition]] |1 |0 |0 |0 |0 |2 |26th |- |align=left| [[2014 24 Hours of Le Mans|24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2]] |1 |0 |0 |0 |0 |N/A |9th |- ! 2016 |align=left| [[2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship|IMSA SportsCar Championship - Prototype]] |align=left| [[Mazdaspeed|Mazda Motorsports]] |1 |0 |0 |0 |0 |24 |32nd |- ! 2017–18 |align=left| [[2017–18 Asian Le Mans Series|Asian Le Mans Series - LMP2]] |align=left| [[Eurasia Motorsport]] |1 |0 |0 |0 |0 |12 |10th |- ! 2018–19 |align=left| [[2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship|FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2]] |align=left| [[Larbre Compétition]] |1 |0 |0 |0 |0 |10 |18th |} {{sup|*}} Season still in progress. † – Charity race guest.

===24 Hours of Le Mans results=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%" |- ! Year ! Team ! Co-Drivers ! Car ! Class ! Laps ! {{Tooltip|Pos.|Overall Position}} ! {{Tooltip|Class Pos.|Class Position}} |- ! [[2012 24 Hours of Le Mans|2012]] |align="left"| {{flagicon|ARE}} [[Fabien Giroix|Gulf Racing Middle East]] |align="left"| {{flagicon|SUI}} [[Jean-Denis Délétraz]] {{flagicon|FRA}} [[Marc Rostan]] |align="left"| [[Lola B12/80]]-[[Nissan]] | LMP2 | 17 | DNF | DNF |- ! [[2013 24 Hours of Le Mans|2013]] |align="left"| {{flagicon|ARE}} [[Fabien Giroix|Gulf Racing Middle East]] |align="left"| {{flagicon|FRA}} [[Fabien Giroix]] {{flagicon|FRA}} [[Philippe Haezebrouck]] |align="left"| [[Lola B12/80]]-[[Nissan]] | LMP2 | 22 | DNF | DNF |- ! [[2014 24 Hours of Le Mans|2014]] |align="left"| {{flagicon|FRA}} [[Larbre Compétition]] |align="left"| {{flagicon|FRA}} [[Pierre Ragues]] {{flagicon|USA}} [[Ricky Taylor]] |align="left"| [[Morgan LMP2]]-[[Judd (engine)|Judd]] | LMP2 | 341 | 14th | 9th |}

===Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%" ! Year ! Entrant ! Class ! Car ! Engine ! Tyres ! 1 ! 2 ! 3 ! 4 ! 5 ! 6 ! 7 ! 8 ! Rank ! Points |- | [[2012 FIA World Endurance Championship|2012]] ! nowrap| [[Fabien Giroix|Gulf Racing Middle East]] ! LMP2 ! nowrap| [[Lola B12/80]] ! nowrap| [[Nissan Motors|Nissan]] [[Nissan VK engine#VK45DE|VK45DE]] 4.5 L V8 | {{Dunlop}} |style="background:#FFFFFF;"| [[2012 12 Hours of Sebring|SEB]] EX |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| [[2012 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps|SPA]] 9 |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| [[2012 24 Hours of Le Mans|LMS]] Ret |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| [[2012 6 Hours of Silverstone|SIL]] 11 |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| [[2012 6 Hours of São Paulo|SÃO]] 9 |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| [[2012 6 Hours of Bahrain|BHR]] Ret |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| [[2012 6 Hours of Fuji|FUJ]] 6 |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| [[2012 6 Hours of Shanghai|SHA]] Ret ! 70th ! 2 |- |rowspan="2"| [[2013 FIA World Endurance Championship|2013]] ! nowrap| [[Fabien Giroix|Gulf Racing Middle East]] !rowspan="2"| LMP2 ! nowrap| [[Lola B12/80]] !rowspan="2" nowrap| [[Nissan Motors|Nissan]] [[Nissan VK engine#VK45DE|VK45DE]] 4.5 L V8 |rowspan="2"| {{Dunlop}} | [[2013 6 Hours of Silverstone|SIL]] |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| [[2013 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps|SPA]] 9 |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| [[2013 24 Hours of Le Mans|LMS]] Ret | | | | | !rowspan="2"| 22nd !rowspan="2"| 12 |- ! nowrap| [[OAK Racing]] ! nowrap| [[Morgan LMP2]] | | | |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| [[2013 6 Hours of São Paulo|SÃO]] 5 | [[2013 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas|COA]] |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| [[2013 6 Hours of Fuji|FUJ]] 9 |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| [[2013 6 Hours of Shanghai|SHA]] 6 |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| [[2013 6 Hours of Bahrain|BHR]] 5 |- |rowspan="2"| [[2014 FIA World Endurance Championship|2014]] ! nowrap| [[Larbre Compétition]] !rowspan="2"| LMP2 ! nowrap| [[Morgan LMP2]] ! nowrap| [[Judd (engine)|Judd]] HK 3.6 L V8 ! {{Michelin}} | [[2014 6 Hours of Silverstone|SIL]] | [[2014 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps|SPA]] |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| [[2014 24 Hours of Le Mans|LMS]] 9 | | | | | !rowspan="2"| N/A !rowspan="2"| N/A |- ! nowrap| [[OAK Racing]] ! nowrap| [[Morgan LMP2]] ! nowrap| [[Judd (engine)|Judd]] HK 3.6 L V8 ! {{Dunlop}} | | | | [[2014 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas|COA]] |style="background:#DFDFDF;"| [[2014 6 Hours of Fuji|FUJ]] 3 | [[2014 6 Hours of Shanghai|SHA]] |style="background:#DFDFDF;"| [[2014 6 Hours of Bahrain|BHR]] 3 | [[2014 6 Hours of São Paulo|SÃO]] |- | nowrap| [[2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship|2018–19]] ! nowrap| [[Larbre Compétition]] ! LMP2 ! nowrap| [[Ligier JS P217]] ! nowrap| [[Gibson Technology|Gibson]] GK428 4.2 L V8 ! {{Michelin}} | [[2018 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps|SPA]] | [[2018 24 Hours of Le Mans|LMS]] | [[2018 6 Hours of Silverstone|SIL]] | style="background:#DFFFDF;"| [[2018 6 Hours of Fuji|FUJ]] {{small|5}} | [[2018 6 Hours of Shanghai|SHA]] | [[2019 1000 Miles of Sebring|SEB]] | [[2019 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps|SPA]] | [[2019 24 Hours of Le Mans|LMS]] ! 18th ! 10 |}

===IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series results=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%" ! Year ! Team ! Class ! Make ! Engine ! 1 ! 2 ! 3 ! 4 ! 5 ! 6 ! 7 ! 8 ! 9 ! 10 ! Rank ! Points |- | [[2016 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship|2016]] ! nowrap| [[Mazda|Mazda Motorsports]] ! P ! nowrap| [[Lola B08/80|Mazda Prototype]] ! nowrap| [[Mazda]] MZ-2.0T 2.0 L [[Inline-four engine|I4]] [[Turbocharger|Turbo]] | [[2016 24 Hours of Daytona|DAY]] {{small| }} |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| [[2016 12 Hours of Sebring|SIR]] {{small|8}} | [[Grand Prix of Long Beach|LBH]] {{small| }} | [[Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca|LAG]] {{small| }} | [[Belle Isle Park (Michigan)#Auto racing|DET]] | [[Watkins Glen International|WAT]] {{small| }} | [[2016 SportsCar Grand Prix|MSP]] {{small| }} | [[Road America|ELK]] {{small| }} | [[Circuit of the Americas|COA]] {{small| }} | [[Road Atlanta|PET]] ! 32nd ! 24 |}

<nowiki>*</nowiki> Season still in progress

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{Official website|http://www.keikoihara.com/}} {{in lang|ja}} * {{DriverDB driver|keiko-ihara}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ihara, Keiko}} [[Category:1973 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Racing drivers from Tokyo]] [[Category:Japanese racing drivers]] [[Category:Japanese female racing drivers]] [[Category:French Formula Three Championship drivers]] [[Category:British Formula Three Championship drivers]] [[Category:Formula BMW Asia drivers]] [[Category:European Le Mans Series drivers]] [[Category:FIA World Endurance Championship drivers]] [[Category:24 Hours of Le Mans drivers]] [[Category:Asian Le Mans Series drivers]] [[Category:WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers]] [[Category:Carlin racing drivers]] [[Category:Signature Team drivers]] [[Category:OAK Racing drivers]] [[Category:Eurasia Motorsport drivers]] [[Category:Team Aguri drivers]] [[Category:Larbre Compétition drivers]] [[Category:Long stubs with short prose]] [[Category:12 Hours of Sebring drivers]] [[Category:Formula Le Mans Cup drivers]]