Tom Kristensen

Tom Kristensen
In 2008, as a DTM driver.
Nationality	Danish
Date of birth	7 July 1967 (1967-07-07) (age 42)
Place of birth	Hobro (Denmark)
2009 DTM
Debut season	2004
Current team	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline
Car no.	2
Starts	59
Wins	4
Poles	9
Fastest laps	4
Best finish	3rd in 2005, 2006
Previous series
2001-2002 2000 1998-1999 1996-1997 1994-1995 1994-1995 1992-1993 1989, 1991	American Le Mans Series BTCC German Supertouring International Formula 3000 Japanese Formula 3000 JTCC Japanese Formula Three German Formula Three
Championship titles
2001 1993 1991	American Le Mans Series Japanese Formula Three German Formula Three

Tom Kristensen (born 7 July 1967 in Hobro) 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 eight 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.

Career

Tom's career began in 1984, winning several karting titles. He raced in Japan in the early 90s, concurrently in Formula 3 and Touring Cars. He was Japanese Formula 3 champion in 1993, and runner-up in the Japanese Touring Car Championship (JTCC) in 1992 and 1994. He 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. He 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.

Kristensen driving for Audi (Abt) at the Hockenheimring in the 2008 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season.

On 22 April 2007, Kristensen was involved in an accident while racing on the Hockenheimring race course in Hockenheim, Germany.^[1] The crash resulted in a long break from training for Kristensen, and his participation in the 2007 Le Mans race was in jeopardy. However, Kristensen recouperated quickly, and was cleared by the Le Mans doctors to start the race. It was reported, that a new type of collar may have prevented him suffering a broken neck in the crash.^[2]

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 record seventh time with an American R8 entry. 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 eight laps. Kristensen returned in 2008 to claim an eighth victory, making him the most winning driver at the Le Mans 24 hour race with 8 wins.^[3]

Racing record

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results

Kristensen driving the Audi R15 TDI which led him to a fifth win at Sebring.

Complete Petit Le Mans results

Complete DTM results

(key)

¹ - A non-championship one-off race was held in 2004 at the streets of Shanghai, China.

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tom Kristensen

• Official Tom Kristensen website