Seiji Ara (荒 聖治; Ara Seiji) (born May 5, 1974 in Chiba, Japan) is a Japanese race car driver.
Ara was the winner of the 24-hour Le Mans race in 2004, driving an Audi R8. In the same year, he also raced in the Le Mans Endurance Series and Japanese GT Championship.
In earlier years, Ara had competed in Formula Nippon (2001–2002), Japanese Formula 3 (1997–2000) and the Barber Dodge Pro Series (1995).
Ara made his World Touring Car Championship debut with Wiechers-Sport at the 2009 FIA WTCC Race of Japan.
Racing record
24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2001 Viper Team Oreca Masahiko Kondo Ni Amorim Chrysler LMP LMP900 243 DNF DNF 2002 Audi Sport Japan Team Goh Hiroki Katoh Yannick Dalmas Audi R8 LMP900 358 7th 6th 2003 Audi Sport Japan Team Goh Jan Magnussen Marco Werner Audi R8 LMP900 370 4th 2nd 2004 Audi Sport Japan Team Goh Rinaldo Capello Tom Kristensen Audi R8 LMP900 379 1st 1st 2005 Jim Gainer International Ryo Michigami Katsutomo Kaneishi Dome S101Hb-Mugen LMP1 193 DNF DNF 2009 Navi Team Goh Keisuke Kunimoto Sascha Maassen Porsche RS Spyder Evo LMP2 339 DNF DNF 2012 Pescarolo Team Nicolas Minassian Sébastien Bourdais Dome S102.5-Judd LMP1 203 NC NC
Complete GT1 World Championship results Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pos Points 2010 Swiss Racing Team Nissan ABUQR12 ABUCRRet SILQR14 SILCR9 BRNQR15 BRNCR14 PRIQR12 PRICRRet SPAQR17 SPACR16 NÜRQR17 NÜRCR21 ALGQR11 ALGCR18 NAVQR13 NAVCRRet INTQR13 INTCR16 SANQRRet SANCR13 42nd 2
Complete JGTC/Super GT results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Pts 2000TOM'SToyota SupraGT500MOTFUJSUGFUJTAIMINSUZ21st7 2001Tsuchiya EngineeringToyota SupraGT500TAIFUJSUGFUJMOTSUZMIN19th11 2002Tsuchiya EngineeringToyota SupraGT500TAIFUJSUGSEPFUJMOTMINSUZ16th32 2003Tsuchiya RacingToyota SupraGT500TAIFUJSUGFUJFUJMOTAUTSUZ13th26 2004Team CerumoToyota SupraGT500TAISUGSEPTOKMOTAUTSUZ5th45 2005KraftToyota SupraGT500OKAFUJSEPSUGMOTFUJAUTSUZ19th4 2006Kondo RacingNissan ZGT500SUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZMOTAUTFUJ16th28 2007Kondo RacingNissan ZGT500SUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZMOTAUTFUJ10th34 2008Kondo RacingNissan GT-RGT500SUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZMOTAUTFUJ14th34 2009Kondo RacingNissan GT-RGT500OKASUZFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJAUTMOT8th48 2011Lexus Team WedsSport BANDOHLexus SC430GT500OKAFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJAUTMOT13th18 2012Lexus Team WedsSport BANDOHLexus SC430GT500OKAFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJAUTMOT9th36 2013Lexus Team WedsSport BANDOHLexus SC430GT500OKAFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJAUTMOT14th9 2014 BMW Sports Trophy Team StudieBMW Z4 GT3GT300OKAFUJAUTSUGSUZFUJBURMOT3rd62 2015 BMW Sports Trophy Team StudieBMW Z4 GT3GT300OKAFUJCHAFUJSUZSUGAUTMOT7th47 2016 BMW Team Studie BMW M6 GT3GT300OKAFUJSUGFUJSUZCHAMOTMOT15th17 2017 BMW Team Studie BMW M6 GT3GT300OKAFUJAUTSUGSUZFUJBURMOT15th18 2019 McLaren Customer Racing Japan McLaren 720S GT3 GT300 OKA FUJ SUZ CHA FUJ AUT SUG MOT 15th 20 2020 BMW Team Studie × CSL BMW M6 GT3 GT300 OKA FUJ SUZ CHA SEP SUG AUT MOT 26th 5 2021 BMW Team Studie × CSL BMW M6 GT3 GT300 OKA FUJ SUZ MOTSUGAUTMOT FUJ NC 0 2022 BMW Team Studie × CSL BMW M4 GT3 GT300OKA24FSWRetSUZ1FSW21SUZ12SUG5AUT12TRM9 11th 29 2023 BMW M Team Studie x CRS BMW M4 GT3GT300 OKA FUJ SUZ FUJ SUZ SUG AUT MOT 6th 43 2024 BMW M Team Studie x CRS BMW M4 GT3GT300 OKA FUJ SUZ FUJ SUG AUT MOT SUZ 5th 43 * Season still in progress.
Complete Formula Nippon results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Points 2001 Cosmo Oil Racing Team Cerumo SUZ MOT MIN FUJ SUZ SUG FUJ MIN MOT SUZ 12th 4 2002 Olympic Kondo Racing Team SUZ FUJ MIN SUZ MOT SUG FUJ MIN MOT SUZ 11th 3 2006 Kondo Racing Team FUJ SUZ MOT SUZ AUT FUJ SUG MOT SUZ NC 0 2007 TOM'S FUJ SUZ MOT OKA SUZ FUJ SUG MOT SUZ 11th 11 2008 TOM'S FUJ SUZ MOT OKA SUZ1 SUZ2 MOT1 MOT2 FUJ1 FUJ2 SUG 15th 9
Complete Japanese Formula 3 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Pts 1998 Team G.R.P Toyota SUZ TSU MIN FUJ MOT SUZ SUG TAI SEN SUG NC 0 1999 TOM'S Toyota SUZ TSU FUJ MIN FUJ SUZ SUG TAI MOT SUZ 6th 20 2000 Toda Racing Mugen SUZ TSU FUJMIN TAI SUZ SUGMOT SEN SUZ 3rd 30
References