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Le Mans legends: Tom Kristensen

17. Jun 2019 
by Ziv Knoll
4587 views

For years the record of six victories at Le Mans was, held by Belgian Jacky Ickx, seemed unbeatable, then came Dane Tom Kristensen who won a record nine times! A frontrunner in the FIA F3000 series, Tom Kristensen had his eyes fixed on a Formula 1 drive that never materialised.

A last minute call-up from Joest, to join Michele Alboreto and Stefan Johansson for the 1997 edition of the 24 Hours race, changed his life.

During the race, for his first participation, he set a stirring sequence of track records during a quadruple stint … at night, and they won.

The Dane, a team leader at Audi and Bentley, took eight more victories and five more podium finishes from 18 starts to establish a record that is unlikely to be beaten, ever.

Le Mans Victories: 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2013.

Picture taken in 2002.

Source: DR

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