66 Facts About Jacky Ickx

Jacques Bernard "Jacky" Ickx is a Belgian former racing driver who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans six times and achieved eight wins and 25 podium finishes in Formula One.

Jacky Ickx greatly contributed to several World Championships for Makes and World Sports Car championships: Ford, Ferrari, Porsche and by his 37 major World Sports Car wins.

Jacky Ickx won the majority of his races for Scuderia Ferrari, for which he was the team's leading driver for several seasons in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Jacky Ickx began to compete in road racing and motorcycle trials.

Jacky Ickx won the 50 cc class at the 1962 Mettet Grand Prix road race, then demonstrated impressive talent when he defeated future motocross world champion Roger De Coster in the 1963 Belgian 50 cc trials national championship.

Jacky Ickx took another two titles before he moved to racing a Lotus Cortina in touring car racing, taking his national saloon car championship in 1965, as well as winning the Spa 24 Hours race in 1966 driving a BMW 2000TI.

Jacky Ickx entered his first Grand Prix at the Nurburgring in 1966, driving a Matra MS5-Cosworth one-litre Formula Two car, entered by Ken Tyrrell.

In 1967, Jacky Ickx again drove at the Nurburgring, with an F2 Matra MS7-Cosworth 1.6-litre, entered by Tyrrell.

Jacky Ickx was forced to retire after 12 laps with a broken front suspension, but set the fastest lap of the F2 runners.

Jacky Ickx drove for Cooper in the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen but retired on lap 45 with overheating.

Jacky Ickx retired from his first two races, but at his home race at Spa-Francorchamps he started from the front row and finished third.

Jacky Ickx finished third at Brands Hatch and fourth at the Nurburgring after driving almost the entire race in heavy rain without his helmet visor.

Jacky Ickx returned in time for the final race of the season in Mexico.

Jacky Ickx scored 27 points in the 1968 Formula One season finishing in fourth place behind Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart and Hulme.

In 1969, Jacky Ickx moved to Brabham, partly at the instigation of the John Wyer team for whom he'd had considerable success in sports cars.

Jacky Ickx finished third in France, second in Great Britain and won in Canada and in Germany at the Nurburgring, where he took pole position and fastest lap, in the last Formula One race there before 'The Ring' was made less bumpy and dangerous.

Jacky Ickx returned to the Ferrari team for the 1970 season, a move he had been considering since the Italian Grand Prix.

At the Austrian Grand Prix it was Jacky Ickx that took the win.

Jacky Ickx was the only driver with a chance to take the championship from Rindt who had already won five of nine races in that season, with four more to go.

Monza saw a win by Ferrari teammate Clay Regazzoni while Jacky Ickx's car broke down.

Jacky Ickx later stated in a 2011 article in the British magazine Motor Sport, that he was glad he did not win the 1970 World Championship.

Jacky Ickx did not want to win against a man who could not defend his chances, referring to the deceased Rindt.

Jacky Ickx won at Zandvoort in the rain with Firestone wet tyres, while Stewart had no chance with his Goodyear rubber.

Stewart was constantly fighting for more safety in Formula One, while Jacky Ickx thought by doing that the challenge was taken out of the sport.

In 1972, Jacky Ickx stayed at Ferrari and finished second in Spain and Monaco.

Yet, it was the Nurburgring where Jacky Ickx was eager to show it was his track, giving his great rival Stewart no chance at all.

In 1973, the Ferrari 312B3 was no longer competitive, and Jacky Ickx only managed one fourth place at the opening Grand Prix of the season.

Jacky Ickx returned to Ferrari for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza again finishing eighth but drove for Williams in the 1973 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen finishing seventh.

When Jacky Ickx signed with Team Lotus in 1974, a difficult period awaited.

Lotus had problems replacing the successful but ageing Lotus 72 with the troublesome Lotus 76 and, during the opening races of the championship, Jacky Ickx only managed a solitary third place in Brazil.

Jacky Ickx demonstrated that he was still the Rain Master when he won the non-championship Race of Champions at Brands Hatch after having passed Niki Lauda on the outside at Paddock Bend.

However, in mid season Jacky Ickx recovered some form, rising through the field in the British Grand Prix to finish a strong third.

For most of the race Jacky Ickx dueled for fourth place with his teammate Ronnie Peterson who was using a Lotus 76, which had been grafted to the back end of a Lotus 72, Mike Hailwood in a McLaren M23 and Jochen Mass in a Surtees running on his home circuit on Firestone tyres well suited to the circuit.

Jacky Ickx was generally qualifying about 0.8 seconds slower than teammate Peterson.

Jacky Ickx was stood down after the 1975 French GP with the promise that Chapman might re-employ him when a competitive new Lotus was ready to race.

Jacky Ickx did not compete in Formula One for the remainder of 1975.

However, at the Race of Champions, Jacky Ickx was challenging Hunt and Alan Jones for the lead, when Jacky Ickx's visor ripped off.

For most of the Dutch GP, Jacky Ickx moved through the field, running the third fastest lap and on most laps was the fastest car in the race.

In 1977 Jacky Ickx competed in only one Grand Prix at Monaco for Ensign finishing tenth.

Outside of Formula One, Jacky Ickx continued to win races in various sports car series, which he had decided to concentrate on exclusively.

In 1966, Jacky Ickx teamed up with Hubert Hahne in a BMW 2000TI to win the Spa 24 Hours endurance race in his native Belgium.

In 1968, Jacky Ickx won the Brands Hatch six-hour endurance race partnered with Brian Redman in a John Wyer entered Ford GT40 Mk1.

Jacky Ickx would go on to win the Brands race on a further three occasions, in 1972 for Ferrari alongside Mario Andretti and 1977 and 1982 driving Porsches with Jochen Mass and Derek Bell respectively.

Jacky Ickx won the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, his first victory in that race.

The Ford GT40 that Jacky Ickx drove with Jackie Oliver appeared at that time to be an obsolete car, outperformed by the new Porsche 917 but by the older Porsche 908 and the new generation of 3-litre prototypes from Ferrari, Matra and Alfa Romeo.

Jacky Ickx locked the safety belt carefully and thus was the last to start the race, chasing the field.

Jacky Ickx won the race by the smallest of competitive margins ever, with less than 120 yards between the two cars, despite having lost a bigger distance intentionally at the start.

Jacky Ickx won his case for safety: from 1970, all drivers could start the race sitting in their cars with the belts tightened properly.

In later years, Jacky Ickx won a record six times at the 24h race at Le Mans, becoming known as "Monsieur Le Mans".

Jacky Ickx considers the 1977 24 Hours of Le Mans race to be his favourite win of all time.

Jacky Ickx made up for lost laps to lead the race by early morning, but suffered a mechanical problem which forced the car to pit.

The mechanics resolved the issue by switching off one cylinder, and Jacky Ickx went on to win the race.

In 1983, Jacky Ickx was the team leader at Porsche, but a new teammate was faster than he was: young German Stefan Bellof set new lap records at the Nurburgring in the last ever sports car race held on the original configuration of Jacky Ickx's favourite track.

In 1984, Jacky Ickx acted as Formula One race director in Monaco.

Jacky Ickx stopped the race before half distance due to heavy rain, just as leader Alain Prost was being caught by a young Ayrton Senna and Bellof.

In 1985, Jacky Ickx was involved with Bellof again, but with fatal consequences.

At Eau Rouge corner, Bellof attempted to pass from the left, but Jacky Ickx turned left from the right side at the entry of the Eau Rouge and they collided and crashed, Bellof dying an hour later after he crashed the barrier in the "Raidillon" part of the track head-on, while Jacky Ickx was shaken but unharmed.

Jacky Ickx retired from professional circuit racing at the end of the season.

In 1979, in the newly-reborn Can-Am series for rebodied covered wheel Formula 5000 cars, Jacky Ickx won against strong opposition from Keke Rosberg, Elliot Forbes-Robinson and Bobby Rahal.

Formula One fledgling Rosberg drove his Can Am car with ferocity, but often went off the road trying to match the pace of Jacky Ickx, who won the series decisively at the season finale at Riverside.

The previous weekend, on the dangerous and undulating Laguna Seca circuit near Monterey, Jacky Ickx elected to race conservatively rather than going after leaders Forbes-Robinson and Rosberg, but film of the race indicates the brutal nature of this late generation of Can Am racing.

Jacky Ickx did not return to defend his title the following season.

Jacky Ickx was selected to participate in the 1978 and 1984 editions of the International Race of Champions.

The team's only backup car was needed by eventual race winner LeeRoy Yarbrough, so Jacky Ickx did not have the opportunity to race.

Jacky Ickx won the event in 1983 driving a Mercedes-Benz G-Class.

Jacky Ickx became a resident of Monaco in the early 1980s.