10. Allan McNish

Years 1997-2013 Starts 14
Best result 1st 1998, 2008 & ’13

By his own admission, he’d considered Le Mans to be “a race for old men”. It wasn’t even slightly on his radar as he carved a winning route through junior single-seaters, but then his career stalled through little fault of his own. His first Le Mans opportunity (Roock Porsche, 1997) ended badly – more 24 minutes than 24 hours, following an accident – but it opened his eyes. He was back the following year, in a works car, and victory set the seeds for an enduring career (interrupted by a belated F1 campaign, with Toyota in 2002) and more than a decade as one of the out-and-out quickest blokes at La Sarthe. He retired at the end of 2013, with a third Le Mans victory – and a first motor racing world championship title.

9. Henri Pescarolo

Years 1966-99 Starts 33
Best result 1st 1972, ’73, ’74, & ’84; 1st in class 1976 & ’92

Has started the 24 Hours more times than anyone else – and once done with driving (he was 56 when he appeared for the final time) he continued as an entrant. Four times a winner, but there’s more to him than that.

8. André Lotterer 

Years 2009-18  Starts 10
Best result 1st 2011, ’12 & ’14

One of the most consistent drivers of the LMP1 era. His debut didn’t exactly go to plan – team-mate Narain Karthikeyan fell off the pitwall just before the start and dislocated his shoulder, so Lotterer and Charles Zwolsman Jr shared duties in the Kolles Audi R10 TDi and still finished seventh.

7. Derek Bell

Years 1970-96  Starts 26
Best result 1st 1975, ’81, ’82, ’86 & ’87

Derek Bell and Porsche are indelibly linked at Le Mans. Whether a 917, 936, 956 or 962, Bell tamed them all and built a reputation for being ‘Mr Dependable’ in moments of extreme pressure. Britain’s answer to Jacky Ickx or Hans Stuck, he won alongside both during his distinguished career.

6. Phil Hill

Years 1953-67  Starts 14
Best result 1st 1958, ’61 & ’62

History usually logs him as America’s first world champion driver, a simplistic truth that masks broader talents. He was a quick and reliable endurance racer, witness pedigree victories at such as Sebring, Riverside, the Nordschleife, Daytona… and Le Mans.

5. Olivier Gendebien

Years 1955-62  Starts 8
Best result 1958, ’60, ’61 & ’62

A racing giant who remains largely unknown, despite a fine body of work (three Targa Florio victories, for instance). Le Mans required equal parts sensitivity and speed in his day, but he was an absolute ace – and the first driver to win the event four times.

4. Bob Wollek

Years 1968-2000 Starts 30
Best result 2nd 1978, ’95, ’96 & ’98; 1st in class 1977, ’92, ’95 & ’96

Nicknamed ‘Brilliant Bob’ – and with good cause. His distinguishing feature? He’s perhaps best known for not winning Le Mans, despite running at the front many times in 30 starts, but the fact it never quite happened should not dilute his legend.

3. Woolf Barnato

Years 1928-30 Starts 3
Best result 1st 1928, ’29 & ’30

Barnato liked his 3 Litre Bentley — and enjoyed racing it so much that he bought the company. His acquisition translated into a remarkable winning streak that remains unprecedented to this day.

The diamond scion had only been racing for three years when in 1925 he purchased his 3 Litre, the design that had given Bentley its first Le Mans victory the previous year. Firstly he invested in the company and then became the firm’s chairman as part of a restructuring plan, facilitating development of both the 4½ Litre and the Speed Six.

2. Jacky Ickx

Years 1966-85  Starts 15
Best result 1st 1969, ’75, ’76, ’77, ’81 & ’82

The Le Mans legend of Jacky Ickx is born of much more than his six victories with three different marques over the course of three decades. He led the most amazing comeback in the history of the race in 1977 and was involved in one of its closest finishes in 1969.

Those two victories — the first and fourth of his half dozen — illustrate why the Belgian was one of the all-time sports car greats. The depths to which he dug-in in ’77 when swapping cars after his own Porsche 936 had retired with engine problems was remarkable. He hauled the car he shared with Jürgen Barth and Hurley Haywood — who drove only briefly — into contention through a series of gargantuan stints as one by one the Renault Alpine A442s faltered.

In ’69 he’d shown a cool head aboard the Gulf-liveried JWA Ford GT40. Slipstreaming was all important in the days before the Mulsanne was cut in three by chicanes, and he played a masterful strategic race in his battle against Hans Herrmann’s Porsche 908. Cool, calm and collected with unknown depths of determination, Ickx had the full armoury.

1. Tom Kristensen

Years 1997-2014 Starts 18
Best result 1st 1997, 2000, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’08, ’13

A multiple Formula 3 champion, Kristensen was leading the FIA F3000 series early in 1997 and still had his eyes fixed on F1 in the long term. But then came a last-minute call-up from Joest, to join Stefan Johansson and Michele Alboreto in that summer’s Le Mans 24 Hours. He’d never driven there before, and completed only 17 qualifying laps, yet during the race he set a stirring sequence of track records during a quadruple stint. At night…

The Dane took to Le Mans like a duck to water, ended up loving the place and tore up the history books. He recorded nine wins and five outright podium finishes from 18 starts and lost at least two more victories: on the occasions that he enjoyed his biggest lead at the front of the field — four laps in 1999 with BMW and again in 2007 with Audi — his car crashed out with freakish problems. Kristensen was undoubtedly at his best in 2008, when he and team-mates Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello triumphed over Peugeot with the ageing and outclassed Audi R10 TDI. Victory from pole with Bentley in 2003 is a personal highlight, while his role in turning around the fortunes of the Goh Audi team in 2004 is also an often-overlooked achievement.

In 2013 he’d like to have dedicated his ninth win to his late father, but instead used it to honour compatriot Allan Simonsen – killed during the race. He said he’d have to win again for his dad, but there would be  no fairytale 10th victory on his Le Mans swansong in 2014. The fire still burned, though – as he proved with a stunning turn of speed under cover of darkness.

Taken from Motor Sport June 2019