Seiji Ara (荒 聖治; Ara Seiji) (born May 5, 1974 in Chiba, Japan) is a Japanese race car driver.
He was the winner of the 24-hour Le Mans race in 2004, driving an Audi R8.[1] In the same year he also raced in the Le Mans Endurance Series and Japanese GT Championship.
In earlier years he had competed in Formula Nippon (2001–2002), Japanese Formula 3 (1997–2000) and the Barber Dodge Pro Series (1995).
He made his World Touring Car Championship debut with Wiechers-Sport at the 2009 FIA WTCC Race of Japan.
| 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 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
(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 |
(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 | FUJ | MIN | TAI | SUZ | SUG | MOT | SEN | SUZ | 3rd | 30 |