Kiriki Hetsuno

"I have to admit that I am not proud of hitting people so often, but contact is almost expected of you in stock car racing. It is a very strange sport."

- Kiriki Hetsuno

Kiriki Hetsuno (born February 16, 1987 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan) is a Japanese race car driver currently competing in the ARLA Elite Series for Racers with Disabilities. Hetsuno is most known for being able to race while blind in her right eye, a result of a cataract in her eye that she has had since birth. She claims to be uncomfortable with her eye's appearance, which is why she is almost never seen without an eyepatch.

Early Career
Hetsuno began her racing career driving for Hibiki Sport in the Nippon Open Wheel Tour in 2006. Hetsuno was very accident-prone that season; she often piled into incidents that most of her peers would likely have avoided with ease, which she attributed to her lack of depth perception. However, when she wasn't wrecking, Hetsuno consistently scored points.

Hetsuno picked up 2 victories in 2007, both of them in her home race at the Hokkaido Speedpark, making it the first time in Hibiki's then 9-year history that the team won any races. However, a 4-race streak of DNF's set Hetsuno back to a 7th-place finish in the championship standings.

In 2008, Hetsuno migrated to the United States to compete for Date in the inaugural Formula Overdrive season. The series was infamous for its high attrition rate, but Hetsuno picked up a victory at Milwaukee (though only 4 cars finished that race). The series folded at the end of 2008, leaving Hetsuno without a ride.

In the middle of 2009, Hetsuno was picked up by the Atsuro Technologies team in the Pacific Racing Championship and competed in 4 races that year, with a best finish of 4th. The team retained her for the full 2010 season, in which she finished second in the championship with a win at the prestigious Long Beach event.

Stock Car Career
Hetsuno started to express interest in stock car racing in 2010. With Atsuro's blessings, Hetsuno began shopping around for any stock car teams that would field a car for her. She got her chance in ARLA, as a relief driver for Nami Mura in the 2010 120 Laps of Dwyer.

Hetsuno enjoyed her first taste of stock car racing, and Atsuro Technologies opened up a part-time ARLA team in 2011 with Kyle Gaffigan (Hetsuno's Formula Overdrive Teammate, whom she had befriended) driving the team's second car. In addition, Hetsuno and Gaffigan competed for Atsuro in the 2011 Formula Overdrive season, which was brought back by ARLA. Hetsuno captured the championship, with Atsuro Technologies taking the constructor's title.

MRD Motorsports, owned by TM Master Cup driver Tom Delgado, absorbed the Atsuro Technologies team for the 2012 ARLA Elite Series season, with Hetsuno joining the team full-time. Hetsuno obtained a major personal victory by winning at the indoor track in Tokyo.

Hetsuno has found a ride for 2013 with Edwin Schwarzloski's new team Racers With Disabilities.

Personal Life
Hetsuno is often criticized for overaggressive driving and using her disability to avoid accepting responsibility for incidents, but she has also earned praise for making ambitious moves stick.

She has not befriended many of her competitors, but among the few that he has are longtime teammate Kyle Gaffigan and Leslie Riggs. Hetsuno and Riggs are said to share the same snide sense of humor, but their friendship was called into question by the media after Hetsuno wrecked Riggs at Tokyo trying to put her a lap down. However, Riggs assured everyone that their relationship was still intact, especially since Hetsuno had bought Riggs a drink later that night.

Hetsuno was involved in a feud with Taylor Brillon in the middle of the 2012 season after Brillon collided with her at two different races; the incident at Four Corners resulted in Hetsuno being taken out of the race. Hetsuno confronted Brillon after the race and was close to throwing punches at her, but stormed off before things escalated. Neither driver has said anything about their rivalry since then.