An engaging tale of a man who grabbed his opportunities

MR LE MANS: TOM KRISTENSEN

Co-author Dan Philipsen describes

Tom Kristensen as a “racing aficionado” within the 430 pages of this hardback, and it’s a term that couldn’t be more fitting.

So occupied are racing drivers with looking forward that they more often than not put memories of the past to one side, so much so that they are subsequently sometimes difficult to recollect.

Despite being arguably one of the most successful racing drivers of all time, in a career that has included competing in multiple series each year, in addition aside from his most noted successes at

Circuit de la Sarthe, Kristensen has a wonderful ability to recall detail of his own exploits. The Dane’s passion for his sport and its history shines through in the pages of this memoir.

The engaging tales begin early in the book, with recollections of the telephone call from Joest Racing team manager Ralf Juttner during a tennis match in Denmark nine days before the 1997 Le Mans 24 hours that gave Kristensen his sportscar breakthrough. But that was not before a meeting in the German squad’s factory, despite the team having already left for the event, and then, on arrival to the venue for his maiden appearance, getting Juttner and his Renault Clio rental car beached on the edge of the circuit while doing a reconnaissance lap.

‘Mr Le Mans: Tom Kristensen’ by Tom Kristensen with Dan Philipsen is a wholesome, engaging reflection of an incredible career. Available in hardback, priced £40 from Evro Publishing: evropublishing.com.