The shared history between the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Tom Kristensen kicked off well, with a win, completed by the best in-race lap, at the wheel of the TWR Porsche entered by Joest Racing for the Danish driver's first appearance in 1997, just a few days before his 30th birthday! One year before, in 1997, Alexander Wurz became the youngest winner of all time at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which sparked an idea in Reinhold Joest's mind...why not bring on a young newcomer the next year? Bingo! The rest is history, Tom Kristensen clinched the first of his many victories.

The BMW interlude in 1998 and 1999 was lackluster, with two retirements, but Audi's arrival in endurance racing allowed the Dane to dethrone Jacky "Monsieur Le Mans" Ickx and his six trophies from the record book. Unlike Emanuele Pirro, Frank Biela and Rinaldo "Dindo" Capello, Tom Kristensen did not join the German manufacturer in 1999, waiting instead until 2000. The collaboration between the two parties led to six victories in a row between 2000 and 2005 for the Grand Marshal of the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, with of course a quick detour to Bentley in the same VW group as Audi in 2003.

Thereafter, "only" two more wins were added to Tom Kristensen's record, in 2008 with the Audi R10 and in 2013 with the Audi R18 e-tron quattro, but in the meantime, the driver - knighted by the Queen of Denmark in August of 2014 - reached the podium four times and claimed the second step on the podium for his final participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, also in 2014.

This last podium finish closed out an exceptional 18-year career during which Tom Kristensen became "Mr. Sebring" with six wins between 1998 and 2012, the first with BMW and the others with Audi. A corner at the Sebring circuit in Florida has even been renamed for the 2013 World Endurance Champion.

Only one race has stubbornly eluded Tom Kristensen: the Race of Champions. Having qualified five times for the finale, the 2002 American Le Mans Series Champion has never won. Though he hung up his helmet at the end of the 2014 season and went on to become an Audi ambassador and assume responsibility for preparing the German marque's drivers, the Dane continues to participate every year in the race with his competitive spirit fully intact!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Tom!
 

Tom Kristensen's achievements and stats at the 24 Hours of Le Mans

• 18 participations between 1997 and 2014
• 9 wins and a 50% success rate (1997, from 2000 to 2006, 2008 and 2013)
• 14 podium finishes (the nine victories plus 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2014)
• 4 retirements (1998, 1999, 2007 and 2011)
• 3 best in-race laps (1997, 2002 and 2006)
• 1 pole position (2003)

PHOTO: Tom Kristensen (at left) scored his ninth and final win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2013 along with Loïc Duval (center) and Allan McNish (at right).