Print

Mail

wiki links

Kristensen targets 7th win

Tom Kristensen of Denmark will drive for a record seventh victory in the 24-hour endurance race at Le Mans this weekend.

The Audi driver, who equaled Belgian Jacky Ickx's record last year with his sixth victory, will team up with Finland's JJ Lehto and Germany's Merco Werner for the race's 73rd edition. Kristensen, 37, rejoined Audi last year.

"I am happy that Audi gave me the possibility to fulfill my dream of winning once more in the 24 Hours," he said. "Le Mans is particularly important to me because it helped me be someone in motorsports."

Kristensen drove for Bentley in 2003, giving the British car manufacturer its first Le Mans title since 1930. The Danish driver, who won the race in 1997 and from 2000-2004, qualified eighth this year.

Among Kristensen's challengers is Frenchman Sebastien Loeb, the world rally champion. He is racing in Le Mans for the first time.

"For me, everything is new here: It's a world I don't know, a very fast course with traffic, and I'm not used to that," said Loeb, racing for Pescarolo with Soheil Ayari and Eric Helary. "I'll have to be careful of the other cars on the track, that's sure."

The race started at 4pm local time Saturday (1400GMT), and the Pescarolo car driven by Emmanuel Collard, Jean-Christophe Boullion and Erik Comas will begin from pole position.

Collard set the fastest time of 3 minutes, 34.715 seconds in the fourth and final qualifying session. Loeb will start alongside his teammates.

Allan McNish, Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro of Audi qualified third and will be joined on the second row by the all-Japanese Jim Gainer crew of Ryo Michigami, Seiji Ara, and Katsutomo Kaneishi.

This weekend, Le Mans drivers will mark the 50th anniversary of the deadliest accident in the sport.

In 1955, a Mercedes sports car ran off the track at Le Mans, killing 79 people and injuring another 178. A commemorative plaque was unveiled a week ago.
This story has been viewed 1476 times.