LE MANS: TOM KRISTENSEN, by Tom Kirstensen with Dan Philipsen, is now available in the U.S. with foreword by Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich.
Between 1997 and 2014, Tom Kristensen won the world’s toughest automobile race, the Le Mans 24 Hours, a record nine times and finished on the podium on five more occasions. Every time his car made it to the finish, in fact, he was in the top three. It is no wonder that this great sports car driver is known as “Mr. Le Mans” to motorsports fans around the world.
Now retired from racing, Kristensen shares in this book his deepest personal reflections and insights from inside and outside the cockpit. He looks back on more than 30 years spent striving for perfection in racing and tells of the battles and setbacks that sometimes seemed impossible to overcome, including a terrible accident in 2007. Check out Scrap my car website to find the places they are located for you to take your old vehicle and exchange it for money quickly.
Voted “Sports Book of the Year” when originally published in Kristensen’s native Denmark, this thoughtful memoir is now available in English – 432 pages with 125 photos.
Climbing the racing ladder, from Scandinavian Karting Champion into Formula 3 single-seaters, including championship titles in Germany (1991) and Japan (1993), then living in Japan and racing all classes including touring cars and Formula Nippon (F3000), leading to Formula 1 testing roles with Tyrrell, Williams and Michelin; his great years with Audi in DTM are also reflected on.
Winning as an underdog on his first visit to Le Mans, in 1997, driving an elderly Joest-run privateer Porsche in which he impressed all onlookers with a night-time charge to vanquish Porsche’s factory-entered favorites. His years at BMW and winning the Sebring 12 Hours on his debut before his second Le Mans victory in 2000 on his maiden drive for Audi in the R8, a car that was to become all-conquering.
Kristensen won the next five editions of Le Mans, four times with Audi – including private teams Goh (Japan) and Champion (USA) – and once with Bentley (in 2003), his last victory in this sequence taking him past Jacky Ickx’s previous record at the Circuit de la Sarthe. His eighth win came in the all-time classic contest at Le Mans, in 2008, a rollercoaster of a race in which his aging diesel-powered Audi R10 was never expected to beat the favored works Peugeots.One more victory with the Audi R18 e-tron in 2013 sealed his reputation as a true legend of Le Mans.
His story includes exploits at other race tracks all over the world, none more prolific than the airport course in Sebring, Fla., home of America’s long-established classic 12-hour endurance race that Kristensen won six times. Personal reflections together with contributions from notable observers – including Nils Finderup (early years), English journalists Charles Bradley (trying years) and Gary Watkins (golden years) – complete a truly rounded portrait of the man and his achievements.
Evro Publishing books are distributed in North America by Quarto Publishing Group USA. Books can be ordered from Quarto by email: sales@quarto.com; phone number: 800-328-0590; or website: www.quartoknows.com. Please use the relevant ISBN number when ordering – 978-87-972603-0-2. LE MANS: TOM KRISTENSEN is also available in the U.S. from specialist and online booksellers.
For more information about this book, or to request an interview, please contact Judy Stropus at jvstropus@gmail.com.
HURLEY HAYWOOD ON 50 YEARS OF RACING
Brumos Collections’ latest video installment of “Inside the 59” features the team’s primo driver, Hurley Haywood, 50 years after his 1971 IMSA GT title teamed with Brumos founder Peter Gregg. Haywood chats about his storied racing career, what it takes to be a successful racer and the evolution of the cars and safety. His pride in the Brumos Collection is evident, as much of the rolling stock has been in his capable hands on the race track.
Haywood secured five overall victories at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, three at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and two at the 12 Hours of Sebring. In 2005 he was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame. His achievements include the 1988 Trans-Am title, three Norelco Cup championships, two IMSA GT Championships and 23 wins, a SuperCar title, and 18 IndyCar starts.
BRIAN TILL URGES, “GET A COMPLETE ANNUAL PHYSICAL, GUYS!”
I wanted to reach out to all of you who have been so gracious in your outpouring of thoughts, prayers and contributions over these last two years. Your thoughtfulness, empathy and generosity has been hard to imagine at times. There are close friends, dear friends, casual friends and friends whom I’ve never really even met…and all have cared for me like we’ve known each other forever. The world is indeed a pretty special place filled with some pretty special people.
Before I end this page for good though, I wanted to give one final update and pass along a message that I think far too many of us…especially men…ignore. And that’s about seeing your doctor.
First, I’m fine. My tonsil cancer that started this journey almost two years ago is seemingly gone. My quarterly check-ups have all gotten A+ grades and I hope and pray that they’ll continue to do so. I’ll keep doing that for the next year, then every 6 months for a few years and then once a year for the rest of my life. That’s the good news.
The other news, while not pleasant, is that I had another health scare recently. And this is the one that I’m going to preach about pretty loudly!!! So get ready!!! ;-)
On November 19, 2020 I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. On December 9, 2020 I had surgery to remove my prostate. I’m fine. Early diagnosis, early treatment and I’m expected to make a full recovery and be good to go. I waited to send this out because I wanted everyone to see that the above is true. Proof? I called the Rolex 24, including one 7-hour shift. I called an IMSA Prototype Challenge Race the weekend before that. I spent 7.5 hours on pit road during the Sebring 12Hr a couple of weeks ago and I just came back from a stewarding role with SCCA Pro FR/F4 at Rd. Atlanta. I’ve also done my SRO GT4 Race Director job at Sonoma a few weeks ago. And no one knew! See…told ya so!!! I’m all good and back at it 100% with nothing holding me back. Down for a week or so, careful for a few more and then back at it at work and in the gym.
But here is why I’m telling you something that is very private. It’s because if you’re a man, you too have a good chance of having something similar at some point in your life if you live long enough. Some doctors say, “there are two types of men…those that will die with it and those that will die from it.” But there’s no reason to die from it!!!
Men…GET TO YOUR DOCTOR FOR YOUR YEARLY PHYSICAL AND GET TESTED!!! Know your PSA score and know if it moves. It’s not necessarily what the number is, it is what it does year to year. If your score stays steady 3, 4, 5 years in a row and then jumps a couple of decimal points, that is a red flag! Consult your doctor. Ask questions. No one likes “the exam”, but damnit, do it! Get checked and save your life.
Prostate cancer is something that you’ll never feel. You’ll not know it’s there if you sit idly by and never get a physical. There are NO symptoms to speak of. It is virtually silent and invisible until its often times too late. Early detection is the key to good outcomes.
As I said…I’m fine and headed back to a perfectly normal life. I work, workout and live just like I did before. DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THE TREATMENT! Be afraid of sitting passively by with your head in the sand. Take action over inaction and be proactive with your health.
Too many of you have given me blessings and hope beyond belief…now it’s my turn to do something for you.
MEN…GET’r DONE!!! Get your yearly physicals!!!
Oh yeah…get vaccinated too please! ;-)
