Junko Mihara

Junko Mihara is Japanese actress and media personality who had quite a successful racing career in the 1990s, both in Japan and further afield. 

She started in touring cars in 1990 and drove in some races of the Japanese championship then and in 1991 in a TOMS Toyota Corolla. Both times, she shared a car with Masahiro Matsunaga, who was her husband. He taught her to drive a racing car earlier in their relationship. Her achievements in her first seasons were mostly finishing rather than scoring points; in 1990 her finishing record was patchy, but this improved in 1991. 

In 1992, she changed teams, driving for the Kawasho set-up, but her car was the same. Although she scored a few points, she did not enter enough races to make an impact on the championship. Her best finish was 17th at Tsukuba. 

Between 1992 and 1995, she also raced a little in Europe, entering the Spa 24 Hours each year. She was always in a Toyota, either an MR2 or a Corolla, and usually with Matsunaga. She was 16th in 1994 and 19th in 1995, and did not finish the other races. For the latter race, she was part of an all-female team with Michiko Okuyama and Kumi Sato. 

In 1996 and 1997, she raced sportscars in Japan alongside Matsunaga, in an MR2. She was not among the front-runners, although the Japanese Super GT championship at the time was very competitive. Her best finish was 20th at the Fuji Special GT Cup in 1996. Again, her finishing record was good in 1997, although she was never in contention for wins.

In 1998, she made one appearance at the Fuji GT round in a Toyota Cavalier, but was unclassified. The car was a rebadged Vauxhall and was unusual, if not particularly fast. That year, she also raced in the USA, taking part in the Toyota Long Beach Pro-Celebrity race as a pro with Kumi Sato. She was 16th.

She does not appear to have raced since then. Her 1999 divorce from Matsunaga was probably a contributing factor.

After leaving both motorsport and showbusiness behind and also recovering from cervical cancer, Junko entered politics. She stood for election for Japan’s ruling Liberal party.

(Image from /www.jiaponline.org/)

Kumi Sato

Kumi Sato is a well-travelled Japanese driver and motoring journalist. In 1997 she became the first female driver to race in Japanese Super GTs. 

Between 1997 and 2001, she raced GTs in the B class of the Japanese championship. The first car she used was a Toyota Cavalier. The Cavalier was a rebadged Toyota-engined Vauxhall that she raced in 1997 in the GT300 class. The car was shared with Minoru Tanaka and was not able to compete with the fastest in the class but it managed a best finish of fourth at Mine. Kumi raced the Cavalier again in 1998, sharing it with a rota of drivers including Junko Mihara. It was not overly reliable and did not better its fourth place. Kumi is still Super GT’s highest-finishing woman driver.

Her cars included a Tom's Spirit Toyota MR-S, which she used in 2000 and 2001, and a Celica. 

Her best finish in 2001 was 19th, at Suzuka. The MR-S was not particularly reliable and only finished four of its seven races that year.

Although her first Super GT races were in 1997, she had been competing for some time in Japan, having started her career shortly after graduating in pharmacy. She raced in the Super Taikyu series in 1990 and then moved into the Japanese Touring Car Championship for the next three seasons. Her car was a Honda Civic and she managed a couple of podium positions in 1991 and 1993. 

In 1994, she spent some time in the UK, racing another Honda Civic in the Snetterton 24 Hour race for Mardi Gras Motorsport. She also competed in the Spa 24 Hours in a similar car run by Team Honda Challenge. She and her team-mates were thirteenth overall. A second attempt at the Spa 24 in 1995, in a Toyota Corolla this time, led to a 19th place. She was part of an all-female team with Junko Mihara and Michiko Okuyama. The same year, she entered her second Suzuka 1000km in a Porsche 964, but this was not a race that she ever managed to finish.

Her Super GT adventures ended in 2001 but this was only the beginning of a long co-operation between Kumi and the Toyota Gazoo Racing team. She was regular fixture in the Nürburgring 24 Hours until very recently, usually driving a car built by the Toyota group. Her first outing was in 2003, when she was 61st in a Toyota Altezza with two other Japanese drivers.

Her 2004 24 Hours was something of an exception, as she drove a Mazda RX7 for the D-Dream team. They were third in class, 20th overall.

2005 was another exception. She drove a Subaru Impreza in Germany, coming 14th overall and second in class at the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Her co-drivers were Stephane Sarrazin, Kazuo Shimizu and Toshihiro Yoshida. 

She returned to the 24 Hours in 2008 and 2011, driving a hybrid-technology Lexus for Toyota Gazoo Racing. 

In 2012 and 2013, she drove for the team in some rounds of the VLN, in preparation for the Nürburgring 24 Hours. 

In 2014, she raced in the 24 Hours again, in a Toyota GT86. She was 54th, with an all-Japanese team. This followed a taste of rallying in TRD Rally Challenge in Japan in a GT86.

She has continued to race newer Toyota cars at the Nürburgring, including a run in the 2016 race in a C-HR SUV.