Kristensen began racing in 1984 and won several karting titles, including the 1985 Nordic Formula A series in which he beat Mika Häkkinen. He entered Formula Ford in 1987 and made his German Formula Three debut at Brno in 1989. He then paused racing to complete training as a bank clerk before returning in 1991, when Bertram Schäfer gave him a full-time German F3 drive. He won the opening race at Zolder from pole and took seven further podiums — including wins at the Nürburgring and Hockenheimring — to claim the championship.
Kristensen relocated to Japan in 1992, racing concurrently in Japanese Formula 3 and the Japanese Touring Car Championship (JTCC), scoring his maiden touring car win at Suzuka and finishing second in the teams' standings. He also debuted in Japanese Formula 3000 that year. In 1993 he took a dominant Japanese F3 title driving for TOM'S. In 1994, driving for Toyota Team Cerumo, he won at Sugo, twice at Suzuka, and twice at Aida, finishing second in the JTCC by a single point behind Masanori Sekiya. His final Japanese season in 1995 produced three JTCC wins with Cerumo and a maiden Japanese F3000 victory at the Mine Circuit, leaving him third in that series.
Returning to Europe in 1996, Kristensen entered the International F3000 Championship with Shannon Racing. After two rounds — including a pole at the Pau Grand Prix that ended in an accident — he moved to Edenbridge Racing, finishing second at Silverstone and third at Spa-Francorchamps, ending the season seventh. For 1997 he joined Auto Sport Racing and inherited a win at Silverstone after Ricardo Zonta's disqualification, then took second at Pau and a podium at the Nürburgring before dropping to sixth in the standings.
Kristensen's Le Mans debut came in 1997 when Joest Racing called him two days before the race as a substitute for the injured Davy Jones. Partnering Michele Alboreto and Stefan Johansson in a Porsche WSC-95, he posted a sequence of fastest laps during the night — including an unplanned quadruple stint — and set the lap record. The trio won the race one lap clear of second place after a late fire retired the leading factory Porsche 911 GT1. He drove for BMW in 1998 and 1999 but retired early both years; in 1999 a crash caused by a stuck throttle for teammate JJ Lehto ended what had been a comfortable lead in the closing hours.
Rejoining Joest in a factory Audi effort, Kristensen dominated the 2000 race in the Audi R8 alongside Emanuele Pirro and Frank Biela. The trio won again in treacherous rain in 2001, benefiting from a new Fuel Stratified Injection system. Their third consecutive victory in 2002 made them the first drivers to share three successive Le Mans wins.
For 2003 Kristensen switched to the Bentley works effort, taking pole and winning alongside Rinaldo Capello and Guy Smith — two laps ahead of the sister car — after retaking the lead with a pass on JJ Lehto on his first full race lap. He returned to Audi in 2004 with Capello and Seiji Ara at Team Goh, equalling Jacky Ickx's record of six Le Mans victories despite a delaminating tyre and a brief pit-lane fire. He broke the record in 2005, cruising to a two-lap winning margin in a Champion Racing R8 with Lehto and Marco Werner.
The 2006 race brought a third place after early fuel-injector changes dropped Kristensen, Allan McNish, and Capello out of contention. In 2007 a lost left-rear wheel crashed the car out at hour 17. Returning in 2008, Kristensen gained up to seven seconds per stint on Jacques Villeneuve in wet conditions and took the lead on strategy to win alongside Capello and McNish. Third places followed in 2009 (engine issue with three hours remaining) and 2010 (crash caused by a GT car). In 2011 McNish suffered a serious accident on the opening lap, causing retirement. In 2012 another collision from McNish while leading in the final hours relegated the crew to second. Kristensen's ninth and final Le Mans victory came in 2013, shared with McNish and Loïc Duval; he dedicated the win to Allan Simonsen, who had died on the opening lap. His final appearance in 2014 ended in second, held back by a turbocharger replacement.
Kristensen won the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1999 driving a BMW V12 LMR alongside Jörg Müller and JJ Lehto. He won again in 2000 in an Audi R8 with Pirro and Biela, the pair also finishing second at Petit Le Mans despite a damaged diffuser. In the 2001 American Le Mans Series, Kristensen and Capello won four races together and took two pole positions, missing the title after a crash at the finale caused by a delaminated tyre. In 2002 the pair won at Road America and Trois-Rivières and added a commanding win at Mosport after a heavy crash removed Pirro from contention, before clinching the ALMS title at Petit Le Mans. A truncated 2003 campaign brought wins at Spa and the 1000 km of Le Mans on the Bugatti Circuit, both with Seiji Ara.
He won Sebring five further times with Audi: in 2005 alongside Lehto and Marco Werner, in 2006 alongside Capello and McNish in the new Audi R10 TDI — the first win for a diesel-powered car in a major sports car race — third in 2007, third in 2008, and a win in 2009 in the Audi R15 TDI with Capello and McNish.
In 1998 Kristensen entered the Super Tourenwagen Cup for JAS Team Honda Sport, finishing 11th with a sole podium at Wunstorf. He also served as a test driver for Tyrrell in their final Formula One season, testing at Magny-Cours but running around half a second slower than Ricardo Rosset. In 1999 he returned to the Super Tourenwagen Cup and won at the Nürburgring twice and at Hockenheim, finishing third in the championship. In 2000 he joined the British Touring Car Championship with the Honda factory team, winning at Oulton Park and taking both races at the Silverstone season finale to place seventh overall. He was also a Michelin test driver in 2000.
Kristensen joined Abt Sportsline in the DTM in 2004, winning at Oschersleben ahead of Martin Tomczyk to claim his maiden DTM win, and finishing fourth in the championship. He returned in 2005, taking podiums at the Lausitzring, Spa, and Brno — the last completing an Audi 1-2 behind Mattias Ekström — and two pole positions at Oschersleben and the Norisring, before a lack of wins dropped him to third in the standings. The 2006 season was his most competitive: victories from pole at Oschersleben put him in the championship lead, but a suspension failure at Brands Hatch from the leading position ended his title hopes, and two third places at the end left him third overall. A heavy crash with Alexandre Prémat at the 2007 Hockenheim opener caused a long recovery and cost him three rounds; he finished 14th. Three podiums and two poles in 2008 lifted him to eighth. He closed out his DTM career in 2009, inheriting a win at Hockenheim after a puncture for leader Ekström, and confirming his retirement from the series at season's end; he later revealed it had taken two years for all after-effects of the 2007 accident to clear.
In the newly-formed FIA World Endurance Championship in 2012, Kristensen, McNish, and Capello won the opening round at Sebring — making Kristensen the most winning driver in the history of that event. Despite leading Le Mans with six hours to go, a collision by McNish dropped them to second behind the sister Audi. They won at Silverstone in 2013 to open the season; Kristensen dedicated that victory to his father, who had died before Sebring. After the ninth Le Mans win, further victories at the Circuit of the Americas helped the trio clinch the WEC title with a race to spare.
On 19 November 2014, Kristensen announced his retirement at a press conference in Copenhagen. He closed his career with a podium at the São Paulo finale.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
Gallery · 4 related images
