There are seven colours in the rainbow, seven days of the week, seven seas and seven continents. It is a number that defines so much and, whether due to superstition or simple mathematical symmetry, it has also come to define Tom Kristensen.
For the driver known as Mr Le Mans, a man who won the 24-hour race nine times and remarkably for such an attritional race stood on the podium 14 of the 18 times he entered the race, it was numbers that decided the time was nigh.
“I was born 7/7/67, so I kind of like seven,” he says. “My first Le Mans win was in 1997, I’m 47 now and, with all the sevens, I’ll overdo it if I go to 57.”
Elaborating on his decision to finally call time, he adds: “I never thought about retiring but a few months ago I started thinking about it and then last month I was ‘this is what I do, I want to stop now’.
“I’m already called Uncle Tom by the youngsters in the team. It’s the most physical car I’ve ever driven in the WEC (World Endurance Championship). I’m still strong, I’m too young and too fast but I want to have a life after racing as well.”
So how do you mark retirement? In the case of Kristensen, it by continuing to race, at least in a one-off for fun spending the weekend at the Race of Champions in Barbados against drivers, in the case of Lotus’ Esteban Ocan, who had not even turned one when Kristensen first celebrated Le Mans success.
Understandably, the competition is not the same as the physically demanding endurance racing but it is events like these that give the self-confessed adrenaline junkie the chance to quench that particular competitive thirst.
It has to be said that retirement is suiting Kristensen. He has his feet up on a seat in conversation, a sparkle in his eye as he looks back on a career and admits that month one of life after front-line motorsport has treated him well. The true test will be when the endurance programme begins next season.
But he says: “I don’t think retirement will be difficult. I’ll miss the adrenaline rush but I will look back on my treasure and what I’ve achieved with a great many people, teams and co-drivers.”
And what a treasure. As well as the litany of race wins, he has been knighted in his native Denmark, from which hordes would invade La Sarthe each year, and been inducted into the Motorsport Hall of Fame.
He has been victorious in other machinery at Le Mans – namely a Porsche and a Bentley – but Kristensen has become synonymous with Audi and the relationship will continue into next season and beyond.
The Dane is tasked with preparing the drivers mentally and physically, and it is in the latter category that he still wants to prove a point.
“In February my aim is to still be first – I’ve always prided myself in fitness. That’s the challenge and then my retirement will be perfect. I still want to be the strongest.”
He has also been asked to act as a race steward by the FIA as well as being voted onto the drivers’ commission to act as
vice-president under Emerson Fittipaldi.
But he is adamant that none of this nor the achievements at Le Mans would have been possible had it not been for his debut in the race in 1997, a late selection that might never have happened.
A relative novice that year, he got a late call to drive the Porsche of Joest Racing alongside Michele Alboreto and Stefan Johansson. That pair had driven for Ferrari in 1985 and 1986, and between them boasted 10 Le Mans appearances. Kristensen was a total novice, and in most people’s eyes the weak link.
That first appearance alone, however, made him a part of La Sarthe folklore.
“I signed on a Friday and was at Le Mans on Monday. But on the first day of Le Mans testing, I was doing Formula 3000 in Austria and had a private plane and arrived in the evening. I did just 17 laps that evening before the start, that was it.
“In the evening, I did three stints. I was not flying but was solid. But then when I got in at night and did fastest lap in third stint and improved for the lap record, they asked me for a fourth stint. We were able to put pressure on the Porsches and we won the race.”
After it, the world of endurance racing was his oyster, with all and sundry keen to sign him up.
It led to two years with BMW, both times he did not finish, before he signed on the dotted line with Audi, a decision he calls the best of his career. It led to a Michael Schumacher-esque dominance, Kristensen at one stage winning Le Mans six years in a row that led to the Mr Le Mans moniker.
It is a tag he is slightly embarrassed about: “Throughout history, there have been lots of Mr Le Mans in my heart that of many others. I’m one and for that I’m happy.”
He has had 17 different team-mates at Le Mans but doesn’t want to pick a favourite. “It’s impossible to choose as I’ve had many great ones,” he says. “For sure, the longest stint was with Dindo [Rinaldo Capello] and Allan [McNish]. We have a very special bond – we’re different human beings but respect and understand each other.
“But I thank all my team-mates. At the end of the day, it’s a moving substance, the teammate thing. You travel to the circuit from the hotel together in the same car, enter the circuit and that sends a message to the rivals.
“Then when you leave, can say b******* or any other thing you want to release (the stress) before going to bed. That’s the key and one of the reasons why we gelled well. It’s something I’ve pushed for at least.”
It was a motto he carried into his final Le Mans with Marc Gene and Lucas di Grassi where he was second, and ended with another podium in his final race at Interlagos.
Will Kristensen’s record ever be broken? He shrugs his shoulders, his expression saying ‘who knows?’ – his eyes saying ‘I hope not’. What’s certain is there will never be another like him.
