Tom Kristensen - Legend

[davyboy]

After such a fine drive in amazing conditions, this past weekend has got to mark Tom down as one of the greatest drivers of all time. 8 victories at Le Sarthe is utterly mind blowing and places him in a peerless position in sportscar racing. What's even more incredible is that he could go on to win more !

Its time to pay tribute to a true legend and as Jacky Ickx as done here.

[Dario911]

Tom is one of the greatest drivers of all times! He's like a lion, and could be compared to the F1 stars. To win 8 times in Le Mans is hardest than to gain 8 formula 1 championships.
In Le Mans all happens in a day. If you do something wrong, you're out from the game, and have to wait 1 year to have your revenge. In formula 1, all is played in 18 or more races. So, if you lose a race, you can have you chance in the next. That's a great difference.
Tom is a real myth! But the real Monsieur Le Mans will be only the gratest driver of all times, Mister Jacky Ickx!

[sssssssss]

He's absolutely great. But we also must remember that most of his legend is due to a fantastic and not less legendary car called Audi R8. And now, a bit for the first time, to one called Audi R10 too

[Mal]

I totally agree but I also think that Mr McNish is up there alongside him in ability. Without bad luck and a bad career decision he could be up there with TK on wins.

[JHamilton]

Tom is excellent, no doubt, but he also has a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Maybe it's because he doesn't race in the states much, but I never really considered him to be Audi's best driver. I just consider McNish and Dindo to be better drivers... that's not really based on anything solid, but how I feel. Anyone else, or is it just going to be me?

[pach233]

I think most (and Tom has admitted this) would agree that McNish is the fastest driver in the Audi camp. That being said I would say Tom is probably the 2nd fastest over a single lap. Kristenesen's real talent however, is in his consistency and ability to duplicate those fast times over and over. A couple years back I saw a table showing three of Kristensen's stints in that year's LeMans. His three stints were within 1 second of eachother. I believe he has been utilized by Audi in an area where he doesn't excel (DTM) as well as he does in the long endurance classics. There is no doubt he has been in the right place at the right time, but I don't think I could find 5 drivers who I'd rather put in my car for an endurance race.

[davyboy]

Clearly there are faster drivers... but the 24 Heures du Mans is about much more than speed over a single lap, or even a single sprint race distance. Its about metronomic consistency and precision. Its about the sympathetic treatment of your mount. Its about stamina and endurance. Its about teamwork on a completely different level. And its about luck. He seems to have them all in abundance.

Sure many of his wins have happened at the wheel of something from VAG... but he's been in privateer teams against the factory and on more than one occasion he's not been in the car/team to beat.

If you were a team manager planning an assault on Le Mans next year, who would be number one on your driver list ?

[Dead-Eye]

Originally Posted by davyboy

If you were a team manager planning an assault on Le Mans next year, who would be number one on your driver list ?

Kristensen/McNish/Minassian
I don't think there are better LMP drivers around

[Ultimo]

Originally Posted by Dead-Eye

Kristensen/McNish/Minassian
I don't think there are better LMP drivers around

Here here!

Excellent choices!

[NightStalk3r]

Originally Posted by davyboy

If you were a team manager planning an assault on Le Mans next year, who would be number one on your driver list ?

Sarrazin

/thread

[mattcat]

Originally Posted by davyboy

If you were a team manager planning an assault on Le Mans next year, who would be number one on your driver list ?

Enge/Sarrazin/Dumas

[cmk]

Kristensen is quite quick but he is an extremely controlled and consistent driver who knows how to keep pace steadily in all conditions, push when needed but not take risks with the traffic, and not beat up on the car. I believe he also gets quite decent fuel mileage (note that Premat seemed to lose a lap a stint due to throttle style).

Kristensen may have been "in the right place at the right time" but there is a reason he was so consistently employed by winning teams, and it may not be something always apparent to the casual fan. At Le Mans, TK is a legend.

Good to see he and Allan seem to have resolved whatever issues were going on a few years ago which prevented them from sharing a car. Perhaps some of it is Tom admitting that Allan was just plain faster. Perhaps some additional weight came from a mutual friendship with Dindo Capello. That is probably Capello's role in the partnership. He is a touch more erratic (Italian! ) than the others but he's very quick indeed and seemingly a totally likable person that will help keep a good atmosphere in the team. Not to be underestimated.

Perfect LM lineup for '09? Well, it's hard to go against McNish/Kristensen/Capello, but to make a switch for switching's sake, I too would go for McNish/Kristensen/Minassian.

[djb]

all of the above, with the reliability of the cars nowadays being a big factor, dollopped in with all the previously mentioned strong points of his.

Now, we would have liked to have had an in car shot of him as he did that so-damn-lucky-to-get-away-with-it demolition derby move on the other car right towards the end of the race!!! He must have been yelling obscenities at himself in his helmet!! It certainly made me jump up from the couch (have to admit I cheered and hoped the car was damaged, just to end the Audi streak--not malicious but just it added to the drama of the whole last bit of the race--which by the way made me think of the year the Toyota GT-1 driven by the Japanese fellows was chasing down whoever that year in the final hour/s of the race, only to get a flat tire.....kinda like the dry/inter/wet tire gambles going on towards the end this year..great entertainment anyway.

cheers

[Dario911]

Oh, I think Dindo Capello is another greatful driver! He's fast and consistent, and a part of this wonderful win must be recognized to him! It should be hard to define what should be the better endurance drivers line-up:
Capello, McNish, Kristensen, Minassian, Sarrazin, Lamy, Dumas, Bernhard... it's terribly hard to make a choice!

[Dunlop Corner]

Tom has certainly been blessed at La Sartha. You don't win 8 times (and an incredible 6 in a row!) without good fortune. But he has also had his share of Le Mans heartbreak. In 1999 after a stunning drive his BMW had a 4 lap lead on the rest of the field when it crashed with 4 hours to go. An of course last year the #2 Audi was the car of the race until it lost a wheel.

Incredibly in Tom's 12 participations at Le Mans, he has won 8 and twice crashed from a comfortable lead. Only 2 times he did not look like winning it. That is amazing, and you need more than an Audi to have consistant performances for more than a decade like that.
Many other good drivers have had Audi/Bentley drives but has never consistently been in the car to beat, like Tom has.

[marcosgt]

You can't take the achievement away and good drivers always make their own luck, but to say winning Le Mans 8 times (mostly with the all dominant marque of the era) is harder than winning the F1 championship 8 times seems to be stretching it a little...

Cheers.

[CTD]

Tom K is a living legend, the problem is he is still racing and still winning so its hard to call him a legend yet, because he keeps winning!
But Tom K set in 1997, and some of the years in the R8 the record of fastest lap time (and McNish, was racing in 2000-), so i wont say that McNish is flat out faster, he just pushes more and harder that Tom, which gives him a replutation of being faster! (but also wrecking the car from the inside). Tom K is clearly faster than Dindo, and so is McNish, but Dindo is what Tom K calls "The perfect second driver" he is the guy who keeps the car running when 2 others isn't, and that he does it with good lap times is a bonus!...
That Tom K has had a feud with McNish i doubt, im a fan of Tom K, and never heard him critise any driver, and can't see why he would race together with McNish if he didn't liked him (remember Dr. Ullrich and Reinholt Joest takes Tom's word very important)!.
But Tom is a legend, and saying that it's because he is good at being the right place the right time is true!, but not making him a less legend!, he just know when a car is good and not! (the reason he never really got in F1, was that he never got a car that felt good to him)

But this is a bit like the thing with Michael Schumacher!. Exept this time it's a gentleman doing it! (one of the nicest famous people i've ever meet person in person!)

[cmk]

I don't think the issue with TK and McNish was a dislike thing as much as an ego thing, and I believe they have just kinda grown up and gotten around it. As I said, they both are very close to Dindo Capello - I can see that being a factor that brings them together. We know, for instance, that Allan does not much enjoy racing an Audi without Dindo.

An interesting point regarding laptimes - Paul Truswell's breakdown of the Audi-Bentley battle from DSC gave a good insight into the pace of all the Bentley boys. I just found it in the archives for the 2003 race and it makes the point that while Kristensen was a little faster than Capello they were quite evenly matched while Guy Smith was a little slower than the other two (being less ruthless in traffic, he said). This just demonstrates why Capello is the perfect codriver and the fact that TK (Nishy too) can see that helps explain why they are a cut above the average endurance driver. Like I said earlier, it's not always just about being quick.

[minimangler]

Originally Posted by davyboy

If you were a team manager planning an assault on Le Mans next year, who would be number one on your driver list ?

Prototypes?
Collard, Sarrazin, Mcnish.

GT?
Gavin, Hezemans, Bouchut.

[Aysedasi]

Well, I confess to having been suitably peed off again with another Audi win, but I accept - totally ungrudgingly (if such a word exists) - that TK is simply in a class of his own at Le Mans. Yes, he's had some hefty slices of luck over the last few years and yes, he's been in some fantastic driver combinations, but you don;t win Le Mans 8 times just because you're a tad lucky! For me though, it's a big well done to Allan McNish, he's waited for this second win for a long time and he more than either of the other two rested this race from Peugeot's grasp. They should never have let it go of course..........

[The Badger]

Any word on how TK is doing ?

I heard that he was still having issues from that accident ?

Aslak ..... do you know anything please ?

[TheSuicideKing]

Originally Posted by Dario911

Tom is one of the greatest drivers of all times! He's like a lion, and could be compared to the F1 stars. To win 8 times in Le Mans is hardest than to gain 8 formula 1 championships.

Conversely making an entire season successful is much more difficult than one race.

When you have the best car and no competition, how difficult is it really to win 8 of anything? The car is the icon, not Kristenson.

[Aslak Vind]

I must say, that it is highly regretable that Tom wasnt able to finance a Formula 1 season, eventhough he tested for both BAR-Tyrell, Williams and Minardi. And later he tested for Michelin in Jaguar and Williams F1 racers. Tom has always thought, that he didnt have to pay for a F1 seat, but talking to him now 10 years later, it seems that he as that as his biggest regret.

He was signed as a F1 driver for the Mastercard Lola team in 1997. But as you know, the team folded. Which was as well, as Lola never cosigned the Tom K contract, out of economic reasons as Lola was close to folding as well.

He was also very sad when his BMW V12 LMR the first year 1997 DNF´ed, and next year crashed with JJ Lehto behind the wheel. Because at that time BMW was entering F1, and the Le Mans car was developed together with Tom K and Williams. And Tom, Williams and BMW were in talks regarding a F1 seat with Williams BMW. But it was not to no avail, Tom tested for BMW Williams in the latter of 1999, firstly the team needed data for Suzuka, but the team also considered Tom Kristensen as a teammate for Ralf Schumacher in 2000.

In 1998 Tom also was offered a test with BAR in F1, replacing Ricardo Rosset. Who left BAR less than impressed, but in the last moment Rosset´s rich family managed to find extra sponsormoney...

He also tested in champcar, Honda Europe did all they could to keep Tom in the Honda family after he was raced in STW. Tom tested for Bettenhausen, who needed a new driver after Stefan Johansson, Tom was fastest beating Allan McNish and Patrick Carpentier and Jörg Müller. In Japan Tom raced for TOM´s Toyota, beating his teammates Eddie Irvine and Jacques Villeneuve.

Every time Tom has tested in F1 or Champcar, he has been among the fastest by a long shot. And it is my believe, that Tom with his great talent could have been a major title factor, if he was in a tintop car.

So please show the man a bit of respect, before claiming that it is the car not the man. Tom has huge amounts of talent and experience, which has drawn some of the biggest players in motorsport onto him.

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by TheSuicideKing

Conversely making an entire season successful is much more difficult than one race.

When you have the best car and no competition, how difficult is it really to win 8 of anything? The car is the icon, not Kristenson.

Or should you say the cars are the icons

o His 8 Le Mans victories have been in 4 different types of machine.
o All of his victories were against strong competition.
o On many occasions his mount was not the best in the field.
o I guess its not that easy to win 8 Le Mans as he's the only one who's managed to do it.

[CTD]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Any word on how TK is doing ?

I heard that he was still having issues from that accident ?

Aslak ..... do you know anything please ?

Tom Kristensen has no issues from the accident as far as i heard. But he said up to Le Mans, that it was really hard for him to get in the same shape as before the accident, but that is probably just his age counting in!.

But Tom K, as the very good cyclist he is, has just won a 12 Hours Mountain Bike Endurance!, so we got the very good old Tom K back!, and hopefully, with more Wins in future! (hopefully a DTM )