DTC: Tom Kristensen forms new team

Triple Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen is one of the leading figures behind a brand new two car team that will enter this year's Danish Touringcar Championship with a pair of JAS-built Honda Civic Type Rs. The new team will be known as K Motorsport, and although the letter K obviously refers to Kristensen, the curly haired Dane will not be the only Kristensen pulling the strings in the team.

Tom Kristensen's father, Carl-Erik, and brother, Jacob, will both have central roles in the team as team manager and driver respectively, and although Tom will not race himself, he has been instrumental in setting up the team in the series, which he has been following closely during 2001, when he acted as a commentator for Danish television channel, TV2. Through his vast network within European touring car racing he has managed to strike a deal with Honda Motor Europe to support the new team. Two new Honda Civic Type Rs are under construction at the facilities of Milan-based JAS Motorsport, for whom Tom Kristensen has raced himself previously in the German and British touring car series.

Tom's younger brother Jacob started his racing career in earnest two years ago, when he entered the one-make Citroën Saxo Cup in 2000, gaining his first podium position at Ring Djursland after having taken over a pair of Tom's well-worn race boots from Le Mans! Having finished the series in fifth place overall, he was signed up by the Valvoline-backed Seat team in the 2-litre class of last year's ultra-competitive Yokohama Cup. In his Seat Ibiza he was a regular front runner finishing on the podium three times, but as he failed to score points in six of the 16 rounds he only managed to claim 11th place overall.

Carl-Erik Kristensen is no stranger to motorsport either, as his active career started in the early 70s with short track racing. In 1974 he was hot rodding in England alongside the likes of Barry Lee, and later that year he also took the inaugural Danish Special Saloon Car series. In 1980 he also became Danish Champion in rally cross, while in 1988 he was the first Dane to enter the Paris-Dakar marathon rally.

The identity of K Motorsport's second driver is not yet known, but Car-Erik Kristensen reassures that it won't be just another family affair that favours Jacob Kristensen.

"We have set up this team through our love to motor racing," Carl-Erik Kristensen explains. "My two boys always used to follow me to the circuits during my career, so in this case it is a question of dragging the old "circus horse" back to the circus ring again. But of course we have ambitions about finishing as close to the top as possible, and for that purpose we will be needing a fast and experienced driver, who can help us develop both the team and the cars. Presently we are in contact with several drivers, and I believe that we will soon be able to announce a second driver."

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