Catching up with Le Mans 24 Hours winner Tom Kristensen

Tom Kristensen is a Le Mans legend. The Danish racing driver won the famous French 24-hour race an amazing nine times, with his first win coming two decades ago on his very first attempt. Not bad for a rookie from F3000 single-seaters who only secured the drive in a Joest Racing TWR Porsche WSC-95 the week before.

It was then off to BMW for two years before a switch to Audi, with which he was to spend the rest of his career until he retired in 2014. No wonder his amazing racing record was celebrated at the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed – and he was there to take in the adulation.

He was both delighted yet surprised by the commemorations, he told us. “At first I said, ’20 years, really? Where has that gone?’ But then you start to look at all the cars, the team-mates and the races and you realise how long it’s been.”

Audi had a particularly special treat for him – it was letting Kristensen drive the Audi R8 he won the 2000 Le Mans race up the hill, in its final run before being retired to the Audi museum. “The R8 marks the beginning of Audi’s long journey in sports cars. I’ll go slowly up the hill,” he promised before the event, “but I’m sure I’ll rev it higher than I should to give the crowd a thrill.” We were unable to confirm if he actually did this, but can confirm the adoring crowd were delighted…

Not that this 2000 car is his favourite – he doesn’t actually have one, enjoying all the Audi Sport Le Mans cars he piloted (and he should know – he’s the world’s only driver who raced every single one). Even so, he won five of his nine Le Mans 24 Hours races in the R8, so does say it means a lot.

The most monstrous car, he reckons, was the R15 from 2009-2010, but it was the 12-cylinder diesel R10 between 2006-2008 that provided the biggest hurdle for Kristensen. It was “the one I had to change my philosophy and driving style for, and it was a huge challenge for the engineers.” Didn’t stop them from winning though, creating Le Mans history by winning with diesel.

Kristensen reckons the prettiest car he raced was the 2003 Bentley. “And it still had an Audi-built engine.” And the most frustrating? Probably the 1999 BMW – in which he retired from a four-lap lead. “That hurt me so much.”

The race that really stands out for Kristensen was his 2001 victory, the year in which it rained for a full 19 hours. “Everybody thought Peugeot would smash us that year, but it rained in the night, and the will of Allan [McNish], Dindo [Rinaldo Capello], myself and the whole team to not give up, and push to find any seconds, make that win very rewarding.”

And that’s how you win the Le Mans 24 Hours a record 9 times: by not giving up, no matter what the odds. Three cheers to the hundreds of thousands at Goodwood who gave Tim Kristensen the celebration he deserves.