17 Facts About Tom Kristensen

1.

Tom Kristensen was born on 7 July 1967 and is a Danish former racing driver.

2.

Tom Kristensen holds the record for the most wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with nine, six of which were consecutive.

3.

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.

4.

In both 1999 and 2007 Tom Kristensen's team crashed out of comfortable leads in the closing hours of the race.

5.

Tom Kristensen is considered by many to be the greatest driver ever to have raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

6.

Elsewhere Tom Kristensen holds the record for most wins at the 12 Hours of Sebring with a total of six.

7.

Tom Kristensen's career began in 1984, winning several karting titles.

8.

Tom Kristensen raced in Japan in the early 1990s, concurrently in Formula 3 and Touring Cars.

9.

Tom Kristensen was German Formula 3 Champion in 1991, Japanese Formula 3 champion in 1993, and runner-up in the Japanese Touring Car Championship in 1992 and 1994.

10.

Tom Kristensen was 6th in Formula 3000 in both 1996 and 1997, and test driver for Tyrrell in their final Formula One season in 1998, and for Michelin as they prepared their F1 tyres using an older Williams car in 2000.

11.

Tom Kristensen was 3rd in the STW Cup in Germany in 1999,7th in the British Touring Car Championship in 2000, and winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring in both those years.

12.

On 22 April 2007, Tom Kristensen was involved in an accident while racing on the Hockenheimring race course in Hockenheim, Germany.

13.

However, Tom Kristensen recuperated quickly, and was cleared by the Le Mans doctors to start the race.

14.

The 2006 race saw Tom Kristensen finishing in third place in the new diesel-powered Audi R10.

15.

Tom Kristensen did not finish the 2007 race following Rinaldo Capello's crash while the car was leading the race by four laps.

16.

Tom Kristensen returned in 2008 to claim an eighth victory and extend the record for most wins.

17.

On 19 November 2014, Tom Kristensen announced at a press conference in Copenhagen that he was retiring from motorsport at the end of the current World Endurance Championship season.