Which driver became Japan's first overall Le Mans winner in 1995?

Masanori Sekiya became Japan’s first overall Le Mans winner in 1995.

Sekiya shared the winning McLaren F1 GTR with Yannick Dalmas and JJ Lehto. Their Kokusai Kaihatsu-backed car completed 298 laps to win the 63rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Sekiya was the first Japanese-born driver to claim the race’s overall victory.

The achievement came after several earlier Le Mans attempts. Sekiya had already finished second overall in 1992 and fourth in 1993 with Toyota prototypes, so his 1995 victory completed a progression from front-running contender to winner. He had also built a substantial career in Japanese prototype, touring-car and single-seater racing.

Satoru Nakajima was a celebrated Japanese Le Mans pioneer and finished second in 1991, but he did not win overall. Kazuki Nakajima later became another prominent Japanese driver at Le Mans, while Ukyo Katayama came close with a second-place finish in 1999. None preceded Sekiya’s 1995 breakthrough.