Keiko Ihara

Keiko Ihara (井原 慶子, Ihara Keiko) (born July 4, 1973) is a Japanese auto racing 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 Three Championship are two eighth 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 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.

Racing record

Career summary Season still in progress. † – Charity race guest.

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 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

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series results Year Team Class Make Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Rank Points 2016 Mazda Motorsports P Mazda Prototype Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L I4 Turbo DAY SIR LBH LAG DET WAT MSP ELK COA PET 32nd 24

Season still in progress