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Written by Stephen Dobie
Tom Kristensen holds the Le Mans 24 Hours record for nine wins, most of them with Audi. He was Grand Marshal at the weekend"s Daytona 24-hour race, and we used it as an excuse for a natter to see how retirement is treating him, and to pick up his top tips on beating an endurance race.You are Grand Marshal at Daytona. Yet you"ve not raced hereI"ve always followed the 24 hours here, and it"s one I"ve always wanted to be involved in. But loyalty to manufacturers has never allowed me to.Before this weekend I had never driven this track, and never raced here. My very first lap here was on Friday doing hot laps in a new Audi R8. While I"m determined in my decision to retire, if I was going to be tempted back, then the Rolex 24 would be a fitting race.So do weekends like this make you miss racing?Once a racer, always a racer. And I think it would be bad if I didn"t miss it.I remember last year at Le Mans, I was at the golf course at Mulsanne corner on the Saturday evening. I was eating a very nice steak, and drinking some red wine, and it was getting dark. And then [Tom makes noises of cars and their sequential gearchanges whizzing past] then I really envied them.Does that mean night stints were your favourite?Yes. I"m old enough to have raced when there was no floodlights, and I have also been through halogen, xenon, LED and laser lights with Audi. The lights have improved as my age has perhaps made my eyesight worse!At night, it"s very important to go out, push early and really get into the zone. I think the night is key to endurance racing: when you emerge well from it and you"re in contention to win, there"s lots of determination in the team.
Date written: 1 Feb 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 1956
Tom Kristensen holds the Le Mans 24 Hours record for nine wins, most of them with Audi. He was Grand Marshal at the weekend"s Daytona 24-hour race, and we used it as an excuse for a natter to see how retirement is treating him, and to pick up his top tips on beating an endurance race.You are Grand Marshal at Daytona. Yet you"ve not raced hereI"ve always followed the 24 hours here, and it"s one I"ve always wanted to be involved in. But loyalty to manufacturers has never allowed me to.Before this weekend I had never driven this track, and never raced here. My very first lap here was on Friday doing hot laps in a new Audi R8. While I"m determined in my decision to retire, if I was going to be tempted back, then the Rolex 24 would be a fitting race.So do weekends like this make you miss racing?Once a racer, always a racer. And I think it would be bad if I didn"t miss it.I remember last year at Le Mans, I was at the golf course at Mulsanne corner on the Saturday evening. I was eating a very nice steak, and drinking some red wine, and it was getting dark. And then [Tom makes noises of cars and their sequential gearchanges whizzing past] then I really envied them.Does that mean night stints were your favourite?Yes. I"m old enough to have raced when there was no floodlights, and I have also been through halogen, xenon, LED and laser lights with Audi. The lights have improved as my age has perhaps made my eyesight worse!At night, it"s very important to go out, push early and really get into the zone. I think the night is key to endurance racing: when you emerge well from it and you"re in contention to win, there"s lots of determination in the team.
Date written: 1 Feb 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 1956
