2005 au Mans - Tom Kristensen made history with a record seventh (and sixth consecutive) win at Le Mans. He added two more victories in 2008 and 2013. In 2005, Kristensen won a tussle with Henri Pescarolo’s team. Emmanuel Collard, Jean-Christophe Boullion and Erik Comas started in pole position but Kristensen and his co-drivers got the better of them. Corvette took another class victory and finished in the top five overall for the first time, with drivers Jan Magnussen, Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin. After the success of the Ferrari 550 Maranello, the British team Prodrive orchestrated Aston Martin’s return to Le Mans and finished ninth with the DBR9 driven by David Brabham, Stéphane Sarrazin and Darren Turner.

2005 on the big screen - Star Wars Episode III - The Revenge of the Sith came second in the worldwide box-office hit parade, just behind Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Steven Spielberg also released a new version of the HG Wells novel War of the Worlds starring Tom Cruise. With Million Dollar Baby, Clint Eastwood once again took the Oscars for Best Film and Best Director while Jamie Foxx won Best Actor for his interpretation of Ray Charles in Ray. The end of a Star Wars trilogy marked the beginning of another series: British filmmaker Christopher Nolan brought an old superhero back to life with Batman Begins.

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translated from French by Emma Paulay

Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, LE MANS 24 HOURS, SATURDAY 18 & SUNDAY 19 JUNE 2005. Tom Kristensen (centre) won his seventh victory alongside Finnish driver JJ Lehto (left) and German Marco Werner (right).