24h Le Mans
Nine-time winner and record holder at Le Mans, Tom Kristensen is now a young retiree. As the Dane celebrates his 49th birthday, we take a closer look at his incredible career.
Nine Le Mans wins. That’s an all-time record. Nobody is anywhere near equalling Kristensen’s record of nine wins (1997, 2000-2005, 2008 and 2013) with three different constructors in 17 years. The feat earned him the nickname Mr Le Mans, a sobriquet formerly attributed to the previous record-holder Jacky Ickx, who took six victories. Kristensen’s career is outstanding in many ways.
Kristensen won the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a rookie in 1997, in the TWR Porsche fielded by Joest Racing. He missed the test day and did a try-out in F3000 in Austria a few days before the race and got behind the wheel with only 17 laps of the circuit under his belt. That didn’t stop him rapidly feeling at home. During his quadruple night stint he was as fast as the leading Porsche 911 GT1 and even set the fastest lap.
Our Danish friend won Le Mans six times in a row, with four different crews. From 2000 to 2002 he raced with works outfit Audi Sport Team Joest. Kristensen, Biela and Pirro won Audi’s first three Le Mans 24 Hours. When Audi handed over to private teams, Kristensen made the right choices. He joined Bentley and won in 2003 with the superb Speed 8 alongside Rinaldo Capello and Guy Smith. He then went back to an Audi and won with Japanese Team Goh, then with American team Champion Racing.
Audi switched to diesel power in 2006 and subsequently Kristensen added a mere two more victories. The 2008 win featured a tussle with Peugeot and 2013 was fraught with emotion: Kristensen’s father died in the March and his friend Allan Simonsen was killed in an accident early in the race that year.
Mr Le Mans is also Mr Sebring. He won the Florida endurance classic in 1999, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2007 and 2012! He was so successful that the third corner on the circuit is named after him. There is no Kristensen corner at the Circuit de la Sarthe but the Dane had the privilege of being Grand Marshal in 2014. He is chairman of the FIA driver committee introduced in 2012, an Audi ambassador and consultant and is also a regular Formula One Grand Prix driver steward. An active retiree if ever there was one! Happy Birthday Tom!
Photo: A happy Tom Kristensen in his back garden - also known as Le Circuit de la Sarthe!
