Happy Birthday Mr Le Mans

He is, quite simply, one of the finest racing drivers of the modern age, and today he adds another milestone to a long, long list. Tom Kristensen, the man known around the world as ‘Mr Le Mans’ celebrates his 50th birthday, and although he is now officially retired from competition, he remains a fiercely competitive and driven individual.

Adored by race fans around the world and held in the highest esteem but other drivers, Kristensen is the quintessential race driver. A superbly fit athlete who possesses not only tremendous natural talent, but a relentless approach, he is also a disarmingly ‘good bloke’, who is generous with his time and humble despite his extraordinary achievements.

With an unbeatable nine victories at the toughest endurance race on earth – the 24 Hours of Le Mans – the Danish driver is quite rightly synonymous with the famed sports car classic. But his career has included stints in Formula 1, DTM and indeed seen him stamp his authority all over every motorsport discipline he has been involved with. In his native Denmark he is a national hero, and his successes with the Audi brand over nearly two decades have made him a hero there too.

In his 18 starts at the Le Mans classic, he not only won nine times (seven with Audi), but finished on the podium a further five times (also with Audi). Add to that six wins in the 12 Hours of Sebring, numerous DTM victories, British Touring Cars, Formula 3000 wins, an FIA World Endurance Championship, numerous Race of Champions wins … the list goes on.

Kristensen’s natural talent, professionalism and sheer determination have become the stuff of motorsport legend. His fitness and preparation throughout his racing career maintained a razor-sharp competitive edge that he is famous for today, three years after retiring from professional racing.

Even as the party starts for the Great Dane’s 50th he is at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, putting some of his favourite race cars through their paces on the Goodwood estate. Retired though he may be from professional racing, he is busier than ever with official appearances for Audi, as well as an incredible fitness regimen that seems him competing in mountain bike enduros around the globe, ski events and also swinging a golf club like a pro at quattro events and pro ams.  There isn’t much TK can’t do.

Driven is the only way to describe Kristensen, who is a veritable dynamo, working closely with the Audi brand both as a motorsport ambassador, as well as providing invaluable input to the company’s ongoing racing program and mentoring young drivers coming through the Audi TT program and the Audi Sport racing academy.

His other commitments see him travel the globe, his last visit to Australia at the art of 2015 when he was invited to be the official race steward for the Australian Grand Prix.

His first trip Down Under though was nearly 10 years ago to the day, when Kristensen came out to Australia to help launch a brand new Audi model at Phillip Island. The car, the first Audi R8, was named for the first Audi he drove to victory at Le Mans, and has gone on to become the brand’s flagship model on the road and spawn a hugely successful LMS race version.

At the time, he spoke to Audi Magazine Australia of his racing career to date:

“The most pleasure I have is to drive the Audi sports cars, because they have the best in terms of tyres, regulations, downforce and everything melds in and you get a lot of feedback from the car. I enjoy my Audi and Le Mans experiences maybe more because when I was in F1 it was only a few marshalls and an ambulance - it’s nice to race with the atmosphere of Le Mans.”

With seven Le Mans victories under his belt at the time, Kristensen was already the most successful driver in the race’s history, saying:

“Really, I can’t be more happy. Everything else that comes is a bonus. In a way it still gives me a relaxed feeling when I’m able to get that adrenaline down and get some perspective. I’m in the right company.”

Well, he added another couple of Le Mans wins to that total just for good measure and has burned his name into motorsport lore as a result. A true champion, an extraordinary talent and one of the all-time greats of world motorsport.

Happy Birthday Tom Kristensen – Mr Le Mans.