Tom Kristensen (born July 7, 1967 in Hobro ) is a Danish automobile racing driver . With nine overall victories in the Le Mans 24-hour race , he is the most successful driver in this prestigious racing event steeped in tradition. With six overall victories to date, he is also the most successful driver in the Sebring 12-hour race . In addition, Kristensen was active in the DTM from 2004 to 2011 .
Kristensen is the son of the famous Danish racing driver Carl Erik Kristensen (1942–2013), who won the 1980 Danish Rallycross Championship , among other things . The trained bank clerk achieved his first successes in motorsport in various kart championships as early as the 1980s . Between 1982 and 1989 he was four times Danish and once Italian and Scandinavian kart champion. In 1991 he won the German Formula 3 championship . He became known for his success in various endurance races and touring car championships.
In 2002 and 2005 he was voted Denmark's Sportsman of the Year . Kristensen lives in Denmark with his partner Hanne Andersen and their three children. On November 19, 2014, at a press conference jointly held with Head of Audi Motorsport Wolfgang Ullrich , he announced his retirement from professional racing on November 30, 2014, the 6-hour race in São Paulo .
Le Mans
His greatest successes include nine victories in the Le Mans 24-hour race . In 2004 he was able to set the record of Jacky Ickx , the most successful Le Mans starter to date (with the sixth victory since 1997) . He was able to surpass this success in 2005 with his seventh win. From 2000 to 2005 Kristensen always sat in the winning car. In 2006 he finished third with Rinaldo Capello (Italy) and Allan McNish (Scotland) after a terrific race to catch up. In 2008, with Rinaldo Capello and Allan McNish, he achieved his eighth overall victory in the Le Mans 24-hour race with Audi . In 2009 and 2010 he was third on the podium, in 2012 and 2014 second. Only four times (1998, 1999, 2007, 2011) was he not on the podium in eighteen Le Mans competitions. In 2013 he clinched his ninth victory at Le Mans with the Audi R18 e-tron quattro .
DTM
From 2004 he started for Team Abt Sportsline with an Audi A4 in the DTM and reached fourth place in the overall classification in the first year. In 2005 he drove in an Audi A4 DTM Edition and finished third in the overall standings. In 2006 he also took third place in the overall standings with two victories in Oschersleben and Zandvoort. An accident on April 22, 2007 at the Hockenheimring was the only serious incident in his career. However, he was rushed to hospital with only minor injuries. On May 15, 2009 Kristensen announced that he would end his DTM career after 2009 and only start in sports car races in the future. After a good qualifying result, the runner-up profited from a tire defect of his previously sovereignly leading brand colleague Mattias Ekström two laps before the end and clinched his fourth DTM victory at the Hockenheimring. After the last round of the season at Hockenheim , Kristensen ended his active career in the DTM and planned to focus only on endurance races in the future. In 2011 , however, he returned to the DTM as a replacement for the injured Mike Rockenfeller for a race.
Denmark
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Joest Racing
Michele Alboreto
Stefan Johansson
Steve Soper
JJ Lehto
Audi Sport Japan Team Goh
ADT Champion Racing
Loïc Duval
Marc Gené
Lucas di Grassi
SPA
BAH
SHA
Audi
EST
ZAN
BRN
IS
Audi
SPI
Wikinews: Tom Kristensen - on the news