profile curation and automated feeds by GRRL! updated: January 28, 2026

Bio Excerpt: Keiko Ihara blazed trails as the first woman on a World Endurance Championship podium and the first Asian woman at Le Mans, transforming from F1— (full bio below ↓↓)

Keiko Ihara

Formula racer // Japanese

click to enlarge

Keiko's Socials:

quote:

“When I first said I wanted to be a racing driver, everyone laughed at me because I was a model and no one took it seriously.”

Keiko's Details:

nickname:

n/a

Birthdate:

October 4, 1973 (52)

Birthplace:

Tokyo, Japan

residence:

Tokyo Japan

height:

165cm

racing type:

Formula racing

racing status:

Enthusiast

racing series:

racing team(s):

inspiration(s):

CURRENT FAVS:

FACTIOD:

guilty pLEASURE(S):

Keiko's Powered by:

If this is you,
CLAIM THIS PROFILE
to add your sponsors, collaborations, merch or anything you want in this space (all clickable!).

List ALL Your Sponsors w/ Links!

Sell Your Merch!

Link to Anything!

My new fav WoMo community!

NEWS ABOUT Keiko:

(1) news stories

13 Women Break Barriers in FIA WEC History – KEIKO IHARA Led the Charge

September 23, 2025

Got a story we missed? Send us the URL!

load more stories...

Keiko on YouTube:

24 Heures du Mans 2014: interview de Keiko Ihara pendant les essais qualificatifs | Keiko Ihara

June 12, 2014 / views: 1807 / run: 00:01:36

Got a video we missed? Send us the URL!

load more videos...

Keiko's bio:

Keiko Ihara is a Japanese racing driver who became the first woman to stand on a World Endurance Championship podium and one of the few Japanese women to compete internationally at motorsport’s highest levels—a journey that began not in a go-kart, but in a Benetton F1 promotional uniform.

EARLY YEARS

Born on July 4, 1973, Keiko Ihara didn’t grow up dreaming of racing cars. Her path into motorsport was accidental and entirely unexpected. She became a motorsport fan when she visited a circuit for a job as a “Benetton F1 Image girl”—essentially a promotional model for the Formula One team[1]. What started as a paycheck turned into an obsession. Thirteen years after that first trackside gig, she would be racing at Le Mans[2].

Ihara graduated from Hosei University’s Faculty of Economics in March 1997[3], but by then, the racing bug had already bitten. She did her apprenticeship the hard way, working her way through the junior ranks while most of her peers were settling into corporate careers.

OTHER INTERESTS

When ill health forced her to take a break from racing in 2009, Ihara didn’t disappear. She spent her time away from the track teaching English and lecturing[4]. She also got married during this period; her husband is an energy science researcher and assistant professor at the National Institute for Fusion Science[5]. In her TEDxHaneda talk, she discussed the importance of breaking through barriers—emotional, technical, and cultural—themes that would define both her racing career and her work off the track[6].

Beyond racing, she has taken on roles that leverage her unique position as a pioneering female driver. She became a guest associate professor at Keio University Graduate School of Media Design in April 2020, and later a project professor[7]. In October 2020, she became representative director of Future, Inc.[8]. She has also served as an outside director for SOFT99 Corporation since June 2016 and joined Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. as an independent outside director and chair of the Compensation Committee in June 2018[9][10].

EARLY SUCCESS

Ihara’s early racing career was a grind through the European and Asian junior formulas. She competed in the Asian Formula 2000 series, French Formula 3, and Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship[11]. In 2003, she raced in the Formula BMW Asia Series with Team Yellow Hat[12]. She moved up to British Formula Three in 2005 and 2006 with Carlin Motorsport, posting two eighth-place finishes in 2005—her best results in the championship[13][14].

Her debut in Japan’s premier GT series came at Fuji Speedway, where she finished 16th in class in what happened to be the final race ever run on the circuit’s classic layout[15]. She also competed in Super GT, the Aston Martin Asia Cup, and the Formula Le Mans Cup[16], broadening her experience across multiple disciplines.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

2012: Made her 24 Hours of Le Mans debut with Gulf Racing Middle East in the LMP2 class, becoming the first Asian woman to race at Le Mans[17][18].
2012: Competed in the inaugural FIA World Endurance Championship season with Gulf Racing Middle East[19].
2013: Became the first woman to finish on a World Endurance Championship podium, taking third place in the LMP2 class at the 6 Hours of Fuji with Gulf Racing Middle East alongside Jean-Denis Délétraz and Fabien Giroix[20][21].
2013: Competed in her second 24 Hours of Le Mans[22].
2014: Raced at Le Mans for a third time with Larbre Competition in a Morgan-Judd LMP2[23][24].
2014: Won the Fuji round of the Asian Le Mans Series for Oak Racing with Ho-Pin Tung and David Cheng[25][26].
2016: Joined Mazda Motorsports’ official prototype team for the IMSA 12 Hours of Sebring, teaming with Tom Long in a Mazda prototype[27][28].

INSPIRATIONS

Her inspiration didn’t come from childhood heroes or a racing family—it came from stumbling into the sport as an adult and falling completely in love with it. In interviews, she described how that first visit to a circuit as a promotional model opened her eyes to a world she never knew existed[29]. The fact that she had no traditional racing background became part of her story, not a limitation.

REPUTATION

Ihara earned the nickname “the fastest woman in the world”[30] and has been described as Japan’s representative on the global stage[31]. She served as the Asian representative for the FIA Women in Motorsports Commission and the FIA Drivers Commission[32], giving her a voice in shaping the future of the sport. Her presence in endurance racing made her a trailblazer, and her WEC podium finish remains a landmark moment for women in international motorsport[33].

She was recognized as a “Japanese woman who is active worldwide” while also sharing Japanese culture internationally[34]. Her role as an advocate for women in racing and zero-emissions mobility—particularly through her partnership with Nissan—has extended her influence well beyond the cockpit[35].

FUTURE GOALS/PLANS

As of 2025, Ihara serves as president of Future, Inc.[36], continuing her work in promoting diversity and sustainability in motorsport and beyond. Her ongoing role as an independent outside director at Nissan positions her at the intersection of racing, technology, and the automotive industry’s shift toward electrification[37].