# Masanori Sekiya

Masanori Sekiya (関谷 正徳, Sekiya Masanori, born 27 November 1949) is a Japanese former racing driver, most famous for being the first Japanese driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in 1995.
Sekiya drove in single-seaters in his early career, contesting the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship and Formula Nippon from 1987 to 1993, mostly for the Leyton House team. He never achieved any victories, but finished 4th in the standings in 1988 and 1989, scoring three and four podiums, respectively.
A long-time works Toyota driver, Sekiya drove in the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship, All Japan Grand Touring Championship and Japanese Touring Car Championship, a series which he won in 1994, driving a Toyota Chaser for the Tom's team. He was also runner-up the following year.
As Sekiya is rather fond of Le Mans, in 1987, he got married in the town prior to the race. His best result in international sports car racing was winning the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans, at the wheel of a McLaren F1 GTR for Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing. He became the first Japanese-born driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He was also fourth in the 1993 edition. He competed in the JGTC until the 2000 season and now works as team manager for the Super GT division of the Toyota Team TOM'S and also runs a racing school at Fuji Speedway. In 1998, Sekiya also appeared in a TV commercial in Japan driving a JZA80 Supra promoting its handling package. Sekiya retired from professional motorsports in October 2000 and is now involved in team management.

## Racing Record
### 24 Hours of Le Mans results

| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
| 1985 | Tom's Team | Satoru Nakajima Kaoru Hoshino | Tom's 85C-L-Toyota | C1 | 330 | 12th | 12th |
| 1986 | Tom's Co. Ltd. | Satoru Nakajima Geoff Lees | Tom's (Dome) 86C-L-Toyota | C1 | 105 | DNF | DNF |
| 1987 | Toyota Team Tom's | Tiff Needell Kaoru Hoshino | Toyota 87C-L | C1 | 39 | DNF | DNF |
| 1988 | Toyota Team Tom's | Geoff Lees Kaoru Hoshino | Toyota 88C | C1 | 351 | 12th | 12th |
| 1989 | Porsche Kremer Racing | Hideki Okada George Fouché | Porsche 962CK6 | C1 | 42 | DNF | DNF |
| 1990 | Toyota Team Tom's | Geoff Lees Hitoshi Ogawa | Toyota 90C-V | C1 | 347 | 6th | 6th |
| 1992 | Toyota Team Tom's | Pierre-Henri Raphanel Kenny Acheson | Toyota TS010 | C1 | 346 | 2nd | 2nd |
| 1993 | Toyota Team Tom's | Eddie Irvine Toshio Suzuki | Toyota TS010 | C1 | 364 | 4th | 4th |
| 1995 | Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing | Yannick Dalmas JJ Lehto | McLaren F1 GTR | GT1 | 298 | 1st | 1st |
| 1996 | Team SARD Toyota | Hidetoshi Mitsusada Masami Kageyama | Toyota Supra LM | GT1 | 205 | DNF | DNF |
| 1997 | Gulf Team Davidoff GTC Racing | Ray Bellm Andrew Gilbert-Scott | McLaren F1 GTR | GT1 | 326 | DNF | DNF |

### Japanese Formula 3000 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Pts |
| 1987 | Leyton House Racing Team | SUZ Ret | FUJ 6 | MIN Ret | SUZ | SUZ 5 | SUG Ret | FUJ Ret | SUZ 5 | SUZ 4 | | | 10th | 32 |
| 1988 | Leyton House Racing Team | SUZ Ret | FUJ 3 | MIN 6 | SUZ 3 | SUG Ret | FUJ Ret | SUZ 4 | SUZ 2 | | | | 4th | 18 |
| 1989 | Leyton House Racing Team | SUZ 3 | FUJ 3 | MIN 3 | SUZ Ret | SUG Ret | FUJ 4 | SUZ 8 | SUZ 2 | | | | 5th | 21 |
| 1990 | Leyton House Racing Team | SUZ 9 | FUJ Ret | MIN Ret | SUZ Ret | SUG 19 | FUJ Ret | FUJ Ret | SUZ 14 | FUJ Ret | SUZ Ret | | NC | 0 |
| 1991 | Leyton House Racing Team | SUZ 4 | AUT 15 | FUJ 17 | MIN 10 | SUZ Ret | SUG 11 | FUJ 9 | SUZ | FUJ | | | 17th | 3 |
| 1991 | Team LeMans | | | | | | | | | | SUZ 9 | FUJ Ret | 17th | 3 |
| 1992 | Hagiwara Racing | SUZ 18 | FUJ 8 | MIN 8 | SUZ 10 | AUT Ret | SUG 11 | FUJ Ret | FUJ 12 | SUZ Ret | FUJ 13 | FUJ Ret | NC | 0 |
| 1993 | TOM'S | SUZ 10 | FUJ 7 | MIN | SUZ Ret | AUT C | SUG 23 | FUJ C | FUJ 4 | SUZ 18 | FUJ | SUZ Ret | 16th | 3 |

### Complete JTCC results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | DC | Pts |
| 1994 | Toyota Team Tom's | Toyota Corona | AUT 1 2 | AUT 2 3 | SUG 1 17 | SUG 2 Ret | TOK 1 2 | TOK 2 1 | SUZ 1 4 | SUZ 2 3 | MIN 1 Ret | MIN 2 2 | TAI 1 Ret | TAI 2 5 | TSU 1 1 | TSU 2 1 | SEN 1 6 | SEN 2 3 | FUJ 1 6 | FUJ 2 3 | 1st | 135 |
| 1995 | Toyota Team Tom's | Toyota Corona EXiV | FUJ 1 3 | FUJ 2 2 | SUG 1 1 | SUG 2 1 | TOK 1 2 | TOK 2 4 | SUZ 1 5 | SUZ 2 4 | MIN 1 22 | MIN 2 3 | TAI 1 1 | TAI 2 3 | SEN 1 4 | SEN 2 11 | FUJ 1 Ret | FUJ 2 5 | | | 2nd | 117 |
| 1996 | Toyota Team Tom's | Toyota Corona EXiV | FUJ 1 5 | FUJ 2 3 | SUG 1 3 | SUG 2 2 | SUZ 1 Ret | SUZ 2 15 | MIN 1 20 | MIN 2 3 | SEN 1 7 | SEN 2 Ret | TOK 1 7 | TOK 2 14 | FUJ 1 NC | FUJ 2 9 | | | | | 7th | 55 |
| 1997 | Toyota Team Tom's | Toyota Chaser | FUJ 1 C | FUJ 2 C | TAI 1 13 | TAI 2 7 | SUG 1 11 | SUG 2 Ret | SUZ 1 12 | SUZ 2 9 | MIN 1 Ret | MIN 2 DNS | SEN 1 Ret | SEN 2 3 | TOK 1 9 | TOK 2 6 | FUJ 1 18 | FUJ 2 8 | | | 13th | 25 |
| 1998 | Toyota Team Tom's | Toyota Chaser | FUJ 1 8 | FUJ 2 2 | MOT 1 | SUG 1 1 | SUG 2 3 | SUZ 1 4 | SUZ 2 1 | MIN 1 1 | MIN 2 1 | TAI 1 | FUJ 7 | | | | | | | | 1st | 128 |

### Complete JGTC 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 | DC | Pts |
| 1995 | Toyota Castrol Team Tom's | Toyota Supra | GT1 | SUZ 6 | FUJ 6 | SEN 1 | FUJ Ret | SUG 7 | MIN 4 | | 6th | 42 |
| 1996 | Toyota Castrol Team | Toyota Supra | GT500 | SUZ 5 | FUJ 2 | SEN 3 | MIN Ret | SUG 9 | MIN Ret | | 8th | 38 |
| 1997 | Toyota Castrol Team | Toyota Supra | GT500 | SUZ 3 | FUJ 6 | SEN 3 | FUJ 3 | MIN 3 | SUG 4 | | 3rd | 64 |
| 1998 | Toyota Castrol Team Tom's | Toyota Supra | GT500 | SUZ 6 | FUJ C | SEN 3 | FUJ 8 | MOT 3 | MIN 16 | SUG Ret | 7th | 33 |
| 1999 | Toyota Castrol Team Tom's | Toyota Supra | GT500 | SUZ 4 | FUJ 9 | SUG 1 | MIN 10 | FUJ 4 | TAI 4 | MOT 1 | 2nd | 73 |
| 2000 | Toyota Castrol Team Tom's | Toyota Supra | GT500 | MOT Ret | FUJ 12 | SUG 9 | FUJ 5 | TAI 14 | MIN Ret | SUZ 9 | 17th | 12 |

## Sources

* Masanori Sekiya career summary at DriverDB.com
* Japanese Sports Prototype Championship tables
* Toyota Team TOM'S profile
Sporting positions :
| Preceded byMasahiko Kageyama | Japanese Touring Car Championship Champion 1994 | Succeeded bySteve Soper |
| Preceded byYannick Dalmas Hurley Haywood Mauro Baldi | Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1995 with: Yannick Dalmas JJ Lehto | Succeeded byManuel Reuter Davy Jones Alexander Wurz |