Tom Kristensen

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Tom Kristensen bigraphy, stories - Motorsport

Tom Kristensen : biography

7 July 1967 –

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