Tom Kristensen : biography
Tom Kristensen (born 7 July 1967) is a Danish racing driver. He has won many championships in auto racing but his most famous achievement is being the only person to win the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans nine times, six of which were consecutive (from 2000–2005). In 1997, he won the race with the Joest Racing team, driving a Tom Walkinshaw Racing-designed and Porsche-powered WSC95, after being a late inclusion in the team following Davy Jones’ accident that eventually ruled him out of the race. All of his wins since then have come driving an Audi prototype, except in 2003, when he drove a Bentley prototype. In both 1999 and 2007 Kristensen’s team crashed out of a comfortable lead in the closing hours of the race.
24 Hours of Le Mans
In 2000, 2001, and 2002 he won the 24 Hours at Le Mans race with the powerful Audi R8 along with Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro, becoming the first three drivers since Jacky Ickx in 1977 to win the race on three straight occasions. In 2003, he won the race with Bentley. In 2004, he equaled Ickx’s record of six Le Mans victories in Team Goh’s Audi R8. 2005 saw Kristensen win a seventh time with an American R8 entry, making him the most successful driver at the Le Mans 24-hour race. The 2006 race saw Kristensen finishing in third place in the new diesel-powered Audi R10. Kristensen didn’t finish the 2007 race following Rinaldo Capello’s crash while the car was leading the race by four laps. Kristensen returned in 2008 to claim an eighth victory and extend the record for most wins. In 2013, he took his ninth victory at the event, extending his record and legendary status even further.
Racing record
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos.|Overall Position}} | ClassPos.|Class Position}} |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | Joest Racing | Michele Alboreto Stefan Johansson | TWR Porsche WSC-95 | LMP | 361 | 1st | 1st |
1998 | Team BMW Motorsport | Hans Joachim Stuck Steve Soper | BMW V12 LM | LMP1 | 60 | DNF | DNF |
1999 | Team BMW Motorsport | JJ Lehto Jörg Müller | BMW V12 LMR | LMP | 304 | DNF | DNF |
2000 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Frank Biela Emanuele Pirro | Audi R8 | LMP900 | 368 | 1st | 1st |
2001 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Frank Biela Emanuele Pirro | Audi R8 | LMP900 | 321 | 1st | 1st |
2002 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Frank Biela Emanuele Pirro | Audi R8 | LMP900 | 375 | 1st | 1st |
2003 | Team Bentley | Rinaldo Capello Guy Smith | Bentley Speed 8 | LMGTP | 377 | 1st | 1st |
2004 | Audi Sport Japan Team Goh | Seiji Ara Rinaldo Capello | Audi R8 | LMP1 | 379 | 1st | 1st |
2005 | ADT Champion Racing | JJ Lehto Marco Werner | Audi R8 | LMP1 | 370 | 1st | 1st |
2006 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Rinaldo Capello Allan McNish | Audi R10 TDI | LMP1 | 367 | 3rd | 3rd |
2007 | Audi Sport North America | Rinaldo Capello Allan McNish | Audi R10 TDI | LMP1 | 262 | DNF | DNF |
2008 | Audi Sport North America | Rinaldo Capello Allan McNish | Audi R10 TDI | LMP1 | 381 | 1st | 1st |
2009 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Rinaldo Capello Allan McNish | Audi R15 TDI | LMP1 | 376 | 3rd | 3rd |
2010 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Rinaldo Capello Allan McNish | Audi R15 TDI plus | LMP1 | 394 | 3rd | 3rd |
2011 | Audi Sport North America | Rinaldo Capello Allan McNish | Audi R18 TDI | LMP1 | 14 | DNF | DNF |
2012 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Allan McNish Rinaldo Capello | Audi R18 e-tron quattro | LMP1 | 377 | 2nd | 2nd |
2013 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Allan McNish Loïc Duval | Audi R18 e-tron quattro | LMP1 | 348 | 1st | 1st |