Yojiro Terada
Nationality |
![]() |
---|---|
24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
Participating years | 1974, 1981-2008 |
Teams | Mazda Automotive, Mazdaspeed, Lotus Sport, Team Artnature, T.D.R., Courage Compétition, Autoexe, Welter Racing, Binnie Motorsports, T2M Motorsport, Terramos |
Best finish | 7th (1995) |
Class wins | 4 (1983, 1988, 1990, 1996) |

Yojiro Terada (寺田陽次郎 Terada Yōjirō, born 26 March 1947) is a Japanese racing driver from Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture. He is known for holding the record for the most participations in the 24 Hours of Le Mans without winning, having run on 29 occasions (28 of which were consecutive) since 1974. He is also third behind Henri Pescarolo and Bob Wollek for the drivers with the most participations.[1] His best overall finish was seventh in 1995, although he has had several class victories over the years.
He began his racing career in a Honda S600[2] in 1969, before he was taken on as Mazda's factory driver, a position he held through the 1990s including participating in the World Sportscar Championship and All Japan Sports Prototype Championship.
He also took class wins at the 24 Hours of Daytona on two occasions, including in the Mazda RX-7's debut race in 1979, scoring a GTU class win at fifth place overall.[3] The other occasion was a fourth place overall finish and a GTO class win in 1982.[4]
When he is not racing, he runs the Tokyo-based AutoExe (オートエクゼ) tuning business, specialising in tuning parts and accessories for Mazda.[5][6] and instructs on driving at NATS (Nihon Automobile High Technical School) [7]
He is the father of voice actress Haruhi Nanao.
24 Hours of Le Mans results
Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1974 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Sigma MC74-Mazda | S 3.0 |
155 | NC | NC |
1981 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Mazda RX-7 | IMSA GTO |
25 | DNF | DNF |
1982 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Mazda RX-7 | IMSA GTX |
282 | 14th | 6th |
1983 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Mazda 717C | C Jr. | 302 | 12th | 1st |
1984 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Mazda 727C | C2 | 261 | 20th | 6th |
1985 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Mazda 737C | C2 | 264 | 24th | 6th |
1986 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Mazda 757 | GTP | 59 | DNF | DNF |
1987 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Mazda 757 | GTP | 34 | DNF | DNF |
1988 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Mazda 757 | GTP | 337 | 15th | 1st |
1989 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Mazda 767 | GTP | 339 | 12th | 3rd |
1990 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Mazda 767B | GTP | 304 | 20th | 1st |
1991 | ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Mazda 787 | C2 | 346 | 8th | 8th |
1992 | ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Mazda MXR-01 | C1 | 124 | DNF | DNF |
1993 | ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Lotus Esprit S300 | GT | 92 | DNF | DNF |
1994 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Mazda RX-7 GTO | IMSA GTS |
250 | 15th | 2nd |
1995 | ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Kudzu DG-3-Mazda | WSC | 282 | 7th | 3rd |
1996 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Kudzu DLM-Mazda | LMP2 | 251 | 25th | 1st |
1997 | ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Kudzu DLM-4-Mazda | LMP | 263 | 17th | 6th |
1998 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Courage C36-Porsche | LMP1 | 300 | 16th | 5th |
1999 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Autoexe LMP99-Ford | LMP | 74 | DNF | DNF |
2000 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
WR LMP-Peugeot | LMP675 | 266 | 26th | 2nd |
2001 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
WR LMP01-Peugeot | LMP675 | 245 | 19th | 2nd |
2002 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Autoexe (WR) LMP-02-Mazda | LMP675 | 5 | DNF | DNF |
2003 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
WR LMP01-Peugeot | LMP675 | 235 | NC | NC |
2004 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
WR LM2001-Peugeot | LMP2 | 270 | 26th | 2nd |
2005 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
WR LMP04-Peugeot | LMP2 | 233 | NC | NC |
2006 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Lola B05/42-Zytek | LMP2 | 326 | 13th | 2nd |
2007 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Dome S101.5-Mader | LMP2 | 56 | DNF | DNF |
2008 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Courage LC70-Mugen | LMP1 | 224 | NC | NC |
References
- ↑ "The Most Regular Competitors". Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
- ↑ 寺田陽次郎公式ウェブサイト » 寺田陽次郎について Archived October 5, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ World Sports Racing Prototypes - IMSA 1979 Archived September 19, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ World Sports Racing Prototypes - IMSA 1982 Archived October 24, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ (Japanese) Welcome AutoExe Page Archived November 17, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 17, 2008. Retrieved December 4, 2007. Nihon Car.com:Mazda Roadster by Autoexe, HDTV
- ↑ (Japanese) 学園の10大ポイント Archived November 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
External links
- (Japanese) Official website
- (Japanese) Terada's blog page
- (English) AutoExe
- Yojiro Tarada in the 24h of Le Mans