Mr Le Mans: Tom Kristensen, published by Evro Publishing, has won the Royal Automobile Club’s Motorsport Book of the Year (Below £50) award for 2021.
The judges were particularly impressed with how candid Kristensen is in sharing the ups and downs from his legendary career, giving an insight into what it takes to succeed at the very highest level. The award was presented at the Club’s Pall Mall Clubhouse in London on the evening of 3 November.
Between 1997 and 2014, Tom Kristensen won the world’s toughest motor race, the Le Mans 24 Hours, a record nine times and finished on the podium on five more occasions. Every time his car made it to the finish, in fact, he was on that podium. It is no wonder that this great sports car driver is known as ‘Mr Le Mans’ to motorsport fans around the world.
Now retired from racing, Kristensen shares in this book his deepest personal reflections and insights from inside and outside the cockpit. He looks back on more than 30 years spent striving for perfection in racing and tells of the battles and setbacks that sometimes seemed impossible to overcome, including a terrible accident in 2007.
Tom Kristensen said: “What great news it was to hear about the prestigious Royal Automobile Club’s book award. I am very humbled and would like to thank the judges. It is fantastic to know that they have honoured a small boy from a gas station with curly, blond hair and dirty hands and taken him seriously. Thumbs up to my Danish co-author, knowledgeable contributors and keen publisher for helping to get my story and anecdotes out to a passionate audience.”
Eric Verdon-Roe, Chairman of Evro Publishing, said: “Working with Tom on this project made me realise why he was held in such high regard by the great teams he raced with. His steadfastness, determination, attention to detail and unwillingness to compromise are some of the attributes that made him so successful. Balancing this with his loyalty to the people he works with and his lack of ego makes him such a great team player.”
Evro’s Publishing Director, Mark Hughes, also received the Royal Automobile Club’s Lifetime Achievement Award. A former editor of Autosport and Classic & Sports Car, he was a long-time Editorial Director of the Books Division at Haynes Publishing and has edited more than 700 books during the course of his career.
Simon Taylor, Chairman of the Judges, said: “I’ve known Mark for many years and his editorial skills and experience are second to none in the world of motoring publishing. Not only is he exceptionally good at his job, he carries it out in a calm and efficient manner, and has long been a reassuringly professional presence for authors and publishers alike.”
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