Jacky Ickx – Top driver legend
6 Le Mans and 8 Formula 1 victories

The versatile Belgian enjoyed an active career spanning more than 30 years before retiring from motorsport in the mid-1990s. Since then, he has been a regular star at the Mille Miglia, where he competes in a Porsche 550 Spyder alongside Karl-Friedrich Scheufele for Chopard. Or – as in 2014 – when he visits the Classic Days / Grand Meeting as a guest of honour with international standing, accessible to all fans and motorsport enthusiasts.

Jacky is the son of Belgian motor journalist Jacques Ickx. Ickx first entered motorsport through motorcycle racing. In 1963, he became Belgian trial champion on a Zündapp, a fact that many people are unaware of.

In 1966, he switched from motorcycles to racing cars and immediately achieved several victories in endurance races. One example was the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps. With Hubert Hahne in a BMW 2000TI. In 1967, he became the first European champion in Formula 2 in a Matra MS7-Cosworth. He made his first appearance in a Formula 1 Grand Prix in 1966 in Ken Tyrrell’s team with a Formula 2 Matra MS6-Cosworth at the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring.

He also drove for Ken Tyrrell in a 1.6-litre Matra MS7-Cosworth Formula 2 at the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring in 1967 before driving a Cooper-Maserati in the Italian and US Grands Prix. Ickx scored his first World Championship point with sixth place at Monza.

In 1968, Ickx moved to Ferrari, where he celebrated his first Grand Prix victory on 7 July 1968 at the rainy French Grand Prix in Rouen. At 23, he was the second youngest driver after Bruce McLaren to win a Grand Prix. Between 1968 and 1979, Ickx won eight Grand Prix victories in 114 Formula 1 races and was twice runner-up in the world championship (1969 and 1970). His start in the Ferrari 312 P at the 1973 endurance championship on the Nürburgring circuit, including the Nordschleife, was also legendary.

He also won other Formula 1 races that did not count towards the world championship (the 1971 Jochen Rindt Memorial Race in Hockenheim in a Ferrari and the 1974 Race of Champions in Brands Hatch in a Lotus). In 1979, he became the Lola Can-Am champion. His successes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans are legendary, where he won in 1969 in a Ford GT 40 and went on to achieve five more victories until 1982, earning him the nickname ‘Monsieur Mans’.

This record was only surpassed by Tom Kristensen in 2005. This was followed by victory in the 1983 Paris-Dakar Rally in a Mercedes-Benz G-model. His Paris-Dakar start in a Porsche 959 rally car was also legendary – what a show. Ickx also won the World Endurance Championship in 1982 and 1983 in the Rothmans Porsche 956. This makes Jacky Ickx the most successful sports car racing driver of all time.