Jacky Ickx

Jacky Ickx
Template:Country flagicon Belgian
Formula One World Championship Career
Active years	1967 - 1979
Team(s)	Cooper • Ferrari • Brabham • McLaren • Williams • Lotus • Wolf • Ensign • Ligier
Grands Prix	120 (114 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	8
Podium finishes	25
Career Points	181
Pole positions	13
Fastest laps	14
First Grand Prix	1967 Italian Grand Prix
1968 French Grand Prix | First win	1968 French Grand Prix |1968 French Grand Prix
1972 German Grand Prix | Last win	1972 German Grand Prix | 1972 German Grand Prix
Last Grand Prix	1979 United States Grand Prix

Jacques Bernard "Jacky" Ickx (last name pronounced "Ix" or "Icks") (born January 1, 1945 in Brussels) is a Belgian former racing driver who achieved 25 podium finishes in Formula One and six wins in the 24 hours of Le Mans.

Racing career

Jacky Ickx was introduced to the sport when he was taken by his father, motoring journalist Jacques Ickx, to races which he covered. Despite this family background, Jacky had limited interest in the sport until his father bought him a 50 cc Zundapp motorcycle. Soon afterwards, Ickx won 8 of 13 races at the first season and the European 50 cc trials title. He took another two titles before he moved to racing a Lotus Cortina in touring car racing, taking his national saloon car championship in 1965. He also competed in sports car races where he had already significant experience from taking part in the 1000 km races at the Nürburgring.

Formula One

Ickx entered his first Formula One race at the Nürburgring in 1967, driving a Matra F2 car. Despite the disadvantage of driving a less powerful F2 car, only two F1 drivers qualified in front of him: Denny Hulme and Jim Clark. He was forced by the regulations to start behind the entire F1 field; nevertheless after 4 laps he was already 5th, overtaking 12 full-blown F1 cars. Unfortunately his front suspension broke and he was forced to retire after 12 laps. Despite his retirement he made a strong impression on the F1 team managers.

At Monza, he made his official F1 debut in a Cooper-Maserati, finishing 6th. In 1968 Ickx drove a Formula 1 car for Ferrari. He retired from his first two races, but at his home race at Spa-Francorchamps he started from the front row and finished 3rd. At the French Grand Prix at Rouen he took his first win, in heavy rain. Ickx also finished third at Brands Hatch and fourth at the Nürburgring after driving almost the entire race in heavy rain without his helmet visor. At Monza he finished the race in third position. In Canada his luck left him when he crashed and broke his left leg, which meant he could not compete for the two following Grand Prix.

In 1969, Ickx chose to drive for the Brabham team, which was focused around the owner and driver, Jack Brabham. His first results were poor, but when Brabham broke his foot, Ickx got use of the first car and his results immediately began to improve. Jacky finished third in France, second in Great Britain and won in Canada and in Germany at the Nürburgring, the last Formula One race there before 'The Ring' was made less bumpy and dangerous. In the 1969 Mexican Grand Prix Jacky finished second and became runner-up in the drivers' world championship. He then decided to leave Brabham to return to Ferrari because he had become too good a driver to be the second man.

As in 1969, he had a weak start to the 1970 season. During the 1970 Spanish Grand Prix he had a crash and his car caught fire. It took at least 20 seconds for him to leave the burning car and was hospitalized with severe burns. After 17 days he was back in his car at the Monaco Grand Prix, but his Ferrari was no match for the Lotus of Jochen Rindt. The car started to improve and at the German Grand Prix (held at Hockenheimring as his favourite Nürburgring was boycotted for safety reasons) he fought with Rindt for the win, but finished a close second. At the Austrian Grand Prix it was Ickx that took the win. In Monza fate struck and Rindt lost his life during free practice. Ickx was the only driver with a chance to take the championship from Rindt who had already won five of nine races in that season, with four more to go. Monza saw a win by Ferrari team-mate Clay Regazzoni while Ickx's car broke down. The Belgian took the win at Canada but in the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen he only finished fourth, with Emerson Fittipaldi scoring his first win for Lotus as well as the Championships for the team and his late team-mate. Despite winning the last race in Mexico, Ickx could not beat Rindt's points total.

In 1971, Ickx and Ferrari started as favourites, but the championship went to Jackie Stewart with the new Tyrrell, because Ferrari traditionally started the season with its full attention on the sports car championship rather than Formula One, a fact that had already caused John Surtees to leave in the middle of the 1966 season.

Ickx was able to win at Zandvoort in the rain with Firestone wet tyres, while Stewart had no chance with his Goodyear rubber. After that, he had a lot of retirements, while Stewart took one win after the other, despite Ickx giving him a good challenge on the Nürburgring once again, where both drivers shared victories from 1968 to 1973. That long and very challenging track was the favourite of Ickx, while Stewart had called it the 'Green Hell' as well as being a driving force behind the driver boycott of 1970 that urged the Germans to rework the layout of the track, which had been built in 1927. Stewart said the only thing that had changed since then were the trees growing bigger. As requested, those near the track were cut and replaced with a small run-off areas plus armco. So, the Scot and the Belgian not only fought on the track, but also off the track. Stewart was constantly fighting for more safety in Formula One, while Ickx thought by doing that the challenge was taken out of the sport.

In 1972, Ickx stayed at Ferrari and finished second in Spain and Monaco. After that the Ferrari only got noticed for its retirements. Yet, once again it was the Nürburgring where Ickx was eager to show it was his track, giving his great rival Stewart no chance at all. As for Stewart one year later, and other champions such as Juan Manuel Fangio in 1957, it turned out that the last Formula One win for Ickx came at Nürburgring, where superior driving skill could beat superior machinery.

In 1973, the Ferrari 312B3 was no longer competitive, and Ickx only managed one fourth place during the opening Grand Prix of the season. While being successful with their sports cars, which were driven to several wins by Ickx himself, the Formula One programme of the Italians was outclassed, and they even had to skip some races, notably at the Nürburgring. This was not acceptable to Ickx, who left the team halfway through the season. Instead, he raced the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring in a McLaren, and scored third place behind the Tyrrells of Stewart and François Cevert.

When Jacky signed with Team Lotus in 1974, a difficult period awaited him. Lotus had problems replacing the successful but aging Lotus 72 (which had its debut in 1970) and during the championship Ickx only managed a third place in Brazil. Ickx could only prove that he was the Rain Master when he won the non-championship Race of Champions at Brands Hatch after having passed Niki Lauda by the outside at Paddock Bend. After the Brazilian Grand Prix it went downwards with the results of the Lotus-Ford.

1975 was even more disastrous for Lotus and Ickx left the team halfway through the season, even though he managed a second place in the chaotic Grand Prix of Spain which was overshadowed by accidents.

It seemed as if the end of his career was near. In 1976 Ickx signed at the new teams of Walter Wolf Racing and later at Ensign. Only now and then did he race a Grand Prix. In 1979 he ended his career as a Grand Prix driver at Ligier, but still continued to win a lot of races in various sports car series, which Jacky had decided to concentrate on exclusively.

Endurance racing

In 1966, Ickx teamed up with Hubert Hahne in a BMW 2000TI to win the Spa 24 Hours endurance race in his native Belgium.

In 1969 Jacky Ickx raced in the 24 hours of Le Mans for the first time. This race also saw the first appearance of the Porsche 917 in Le Mans, which was regarded by far as the favourite. The Ford GT40 that Ickx drove with Jackie Oliver appeared at that time was an obsolete car, outperformed by the new Porsche 917 but also by the older Porsche 908 and the new generation of 3-litre prototypes from Ferrari, Matra and Alfa Romeo.

As Ickx was opposed to the traditional Le Mans start which he considered to be dangerous, he slowly walked across the track to his machine, instead of running. He locked the safety belt carefully and thus was the last to start the race, chasing the field. On lap one, a tragic event proved that Ickx was right: private driver John Woolfe had a fatal accident in his new and powerful 917 and fellow countryman Willy Mairesse had an accident which ended his career. Neither of them had taken time to belt himself in.

During the race the Porsche 917 proved unreliable, and none was to finish. The last four hours of the race turned into a duel between the Porsche 908 of Hans Herrmann/Gérard Larrousse and the Ford GT-40 of Ickx/Oliver. In the last hour, Ickx and Herrmann continually leapfrogged each other, the Porsche being faster on the straights owing to having less aerodynamic drag, while being passed again under braking as the brake pads were worn and the team reckoned there was not enough time left to change them. Ickx won the race by the smallest of competitive margins ever, with less than {{#ifeq:|on|0000000000000120{{#ifeq:{{#expr:(0)*0}}|0|000000000{{{3}}}}}}}{{convert/{{#if:1|yd}}|120|{{#ifeq:{{#expr:0*0}}|0|0}}|||||r={{#ifeq:{{{sp}}}|us|er|re}}|d=LoffAoffDbSoff|s=}} between the two cars, despite having lost a bigger distance intentionally at the start. He also won his case for safety: from 1970, all drivers could start the race sitting in their cars with the belts tightened properly.

In later years, Ickx won a record six times at the 24h race at Le Mans, becoming known as "Monsieur Le Mans". Three of the wins were with Derek Bell: this would become one of the most legendary partnerships. In 2005, Tom Kristensen surpassed Ickx's record and as of 2008 has eight victories.

From 1976 on, he was a factory driver for Porsche and their new turbocharged race cars, the 935 and especially the 936 sports car, which he drove to wins in Le Mans three times. These drives, as well as the losing effort in 1978, often in the rain and at night, were some of the finest ever. Jacky Ickx considers the 1977 24 Hours of Le Mans race to be his favourite win of all time. Retiring earlier on in another Porsche 936, which he shared with Henri Pescarolo, the team transferred him to the car of Jürgen Barth and Hurley Haywood which was in 42nd place. Ickx made up for lost laps to lead the race by early morning, but suffered a mechanical problem which forced the car to pit. The mechanics resolved the issue by switching off one cylinder, and Ickx went on to win the race. The win in 1982 came with the new and superior 956 model, though, which carried him to two titles as world champion of endurance racing, in 1982 and 1983.

In 1983, Ickx was the team leader at Porsche, but a new team-mate was faster than him: young German Stefan Bellof set new lap records at the Nürburgring in the last ever sports car race held on the original configuration of Ickx's favourite track. As it turned out, Ickx and Bellof would become involved in controversial events later on.

In 1984, Ickx acted as Formula One race director in Monaco, and red-flagged the race because of rain, when leader Alain Prost in a Porsche-powered McLaren was about to be caught by a young Ayrton Senna. Also, Stefan Bellof had started from the back of the grid, as his underpowered Tyrrell-Cosworth could not provide extra boost in qualifying like the turbos of all others. Yet, in the wet race, he managed to pass many others and was on pace for catching both Senna and Prost when Ickx decided to stop the race. That saved the win for Prost, but owing to the short distance covered overall, only half the points for the win were awarded (4.5), less than for a second place in a full race (6). Prost subsequently lost the 1984 championship to Lauda by half a point.

In 1985, Ickx was involved with Bellof again, but with tragic consequences. Bellof raced a privateer Porsche while waiting to join the Ferrari F1 team in 1986, which had promised him a seat after his performance in Monaco, similar to what they had done for Lauda after he outclassed Ickx there in 1973. At Spa, Ickx's home track, the young German in the private Porsche 956 of Walter Brun tried to pass the experienced Belgian in the factory car. At Eau Rouge corner, Bellof attempted a pass with disastrous consequences, the cars collided and crashed, Bellof being killed instantly, while Ickx was shaken but unharmed. He retired from professional circuit racing at the end of the season.

24 hours of Le Mans victories

• 1969 - Jacky Ickx / Jackie Oliver (Ford GT-40)
• 1975 - Jacky Ickx / Derek Bell (Mirage GR8)
• 1976 - Jacky Ickx / Gijs van Lennep (Porsche 936)
• 1977 - Jacky Ickx / Hurley Haywood / Jürgen Barth (Porsche 936)
• 1981 - Jacky Ickx / Derek Bell (Porsche 936)
• 1982 - Jacky Ickx / Derek Bell (Porsche 956)

Other races

Ickx also co-drove to victory with Allan Moffat at the 1977 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 in Australia, became champion of Can-Am in 1979, and won the Rally Paris-Dakar in 1983 for Mercedes-Benz. The victory at the Bathurst 1000 was in a Ford XC Falcon Group C Touring Car manufactured in Australia with limited modifications for racing. After only days practice in a car he had never driven before he was doing lap times the same or quicker than drivers who drove nothing else and who were familiar with the circuit.

One of his other Le Mans 24 hour victories in a non-driving capacity was when he consulted for the Oreca team who were running a Mazda 787B for Mazdaspeed in 1991. Ickx was also selected to participate in the 1978 and 1984 editions of the International Race of Champions.

After he retired from his professional racing career, he continued to compete in the Paris-Dakar Rally, winning it in 1983 and even competing with daughter Vanina in recent years. Nowadays, he appears in historic events as a driver, such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Monterey Historics, usually on behalf of Porsche and Ferrari. He still acts as the Clerk of the Course for the Monaco Grand Prix and is still a resident of Brussels.

Awards

• Awarded the Honorary Citizen of Le Mans prior to the 2000 race, the first sports person to do so.
• Inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2002.

Trivia

• Jacky Ickx, Gilles Villeneuve or Jacques Laffite had been believed to be the unidentified driver in the 1976 short film C'était un rendez-vous, yet it turned out that director Claude Lelouch himself drove through Paris.

• His hobbies are art and collecting paintings.

• Jacky often appears in the famous Belgian Comics Michel Vaillant, as one of the main characters

• Jacky's daughter Vanina Ickx has had a sporadic motor racing career, driving variously in the Paris-Dakar rally, Le Mans, and most recently in an Audi in the DTM series.

• Ickx always wore Bell helmets with an exception during his early career, Les Lestons and Buco. His signature color scheme has always been metallic electric blue with white edges.

• The Chopard Company developed three limited edition Chopard Mille Miglia Jacky Ickx Men's watches dedicated to the legendary racer. The fourth Chopard watch honouring Jacky Ickx was designed with cooperation of the champion.<ref>Chopard Company to Honor Jacky Ickx</ref>

See also

• Paris-Dakar Rally
• 24 Hours of Le Mans
• Porsche 956
• Vanina Ickx

Racing Record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Points
1966	Ken Tyrrell Racing	Matra MS5 F2	Cosworth Str-4	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	NED	GER Ret	ITA	USA	MEX									NC	0
1967	Ken Tyrrell Racing	Matra MS7 F2	Cosworth Str-4	RSA	MON	NED	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER Ret	CAN										20th	1
	Cooper Car Company	Cooper T81B	Maserati V12									ITA 6	USA Ret	MEX
1968	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 312	Ferrari V12	RSA Ret	ESP Ret	MON	BEL 3	NED 4	FRA 1	GBR 3	GER 4	ITA 3	CAN DNS	USA	MEX Ret						4th	27
1969	Motor Racing Developments	Brabham BT26A	Ford V8	RSA Ret	ESP 6	MON Ret	NED 5	FRA 3	GBR 2	GER 1	ITA 10	CAN 1	USA Ret	MEX 2							2nd	37
1970	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 312B	Ferrari F12	RSA Ret	ESP Ret	MON Ret	BEL 8	NED 3	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 2	AUT 1	ITA Ret	CAN 1	USA 4	MEX 1					2nd	40
1971	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 312B	Ferrari F12	RSA 8	ESP 2							ITA Ret									4th	19
		Ferrari 312B2	Ferrari F12			MON 3	NED 1	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT Ret		CAN 8	USA NC
1972	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 312B2	Ferrari F12	ARG 3	RSA 8	ESP 2	MON 2	BEL Ret	FRA 11	GBR Ret	GER 1	AUT Ret	ITA Ret	CAN 12	USA 5						4th	27
1973	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 312B2	Ferrari F12	ARG 4	BRA 5	RSA Ret															9th	12
		Ferrari 312B3	Ferrari F12				ESP 12	BEL Ret	MON Ret	SWE 6	FRA 5	GBR 8	NED			ITA 8	CAN
	Yardley Team McLaren	McLaren M23	Ford V8											GER 3	AUT
	Frank Williams Racing Cars	Iso Marlboro IR	Ford V8															USA 7
1974	John Player Team Lotus	Lotus 72E	Ford V8	ARG Ret	BRA 3				MON Ret	SWE Ret	NED 11	FRA 5	GBR 3	GER 5			CAN 13	USA Ret			10th	12
		Lotus 76	Ford V8			RSA Ret	ESP Ret	BEL Ret							AUT Ret	ITA Ret
1975	John Player Team Lotus	Lotus 72E	Ford V8	ARG 8	BRA 9	RSA 12	ESP 2	MON 8	BEL Ret	SWE 15	NED Ret	FRA Ret	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	USA				16th	3
1976	Frank Williams Racing Cars	Wolf-Williams FW05	Ford V8	BRA 8	RSA 16	USW DNQ															NC	0
	Walter Wolf Racing	Wolf-Williams FW05	Ford V8				ESP 7	BEL DNQ	MON DNQ	SWE	FRA 10	GBR DNQ	GER	AUT
	Team Ensign	Ensign N176	Ford V8												NED Ret	ITA 10	CAN 13	USA Ret	JPN
1977	Team Tissot Ensign with Castrol	Ensign N177	Ford V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	MON 10	BEL	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	USA	CAN	JPN	NC	0
1978	Team Tissot Ensign	Ensign N177	Ford V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	MON Ret	BEL 12	ESP Ret	SWE DNQ	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	USA	CAN		NC	0
1979	Ligier Gitanes	Ligier JS11	Ford V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	BEL	MON	FRA Ret	GBR 6	GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED 5	ITA Ret	CAN Ret	USA Ret			16th	3

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Result	Team	Car	Class
1966	Ret	Essex Wire Corporation	Ford GT40 Mk.I	S 5.0
1967	Ret	John Wyer Automotive Engineering	Mirage M1	P +5.0
1969	1	John Wyer Automotive Engineering	Ford GT40 Mk.I	S 5.0
1970	Ret	SpA Ferrari SEFAC	Ferrari 512S	S 5.0
1973	Ret	SpA Ferrari SEFAC	Ferrari 312PB	S 3.0
1975	1	Gulf Research Racing Co.	Mirage GR8	S 3.0
1976	1	Martini Racing Porsche System	Porsche 936	S 3.0
1977	1	Martini Racing Porsche System	Porsche 936/77	S +2.0
1978	2	Martini Racing Porsche System	Porsche 936/78	S +2.0
1979	Ret	Essex Motorsport Porsche	Porsche 936	S +2.0
1980	2	Equipe Liqui Moly - Martini Racing	Porsche 908/80	S +2.0
1981	1	Porsche System	Porsche 936	S +2.0
1982	1	Rothmans Porsche System	Porsche 956	C
1983	2	Rothmans Porsche	Porsche 956	C
1985	10	Rothmans Porsche	Porsche 962C	C1

External links

• Official Jacky Ickx Website
• http://www.lemans.org
• Jacky Ickx miniature book, hosted by the University of North Texas Libraries Digital Collections

Preceded by: Warwick Banks

European Touring Car Champion (Div.3) 1965

Succeeded by: Hubert Hahne

Preceded by: None

European Formula Two Champion 1967

Succeeded by: Jean-Pierre Beltoise

Preceded by: Peter Gethin

Brands Hatch Race of Champions winner 1974

Succeeded by: Tom Pryce

Preceded by: Pedro Rodriguez Lucien Bianchi

Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1969 with: Jackie Oliver

Succeeded by: Hans Herrmann Richard Attwood

Preceded by: Henri Pescarolo Gérard Larrousse

Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1975 with: Derek Bell

Succeeded by: Jacky Ickx Gijs van Lennep

Preceded by: Jacky Ickx Derek Bell

Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1976 with: Gijs van Lennep

Succeeded by: Jacky Ickx Hurley Haywood Jürgen Barth

Preceded by: Jacky Ickx Gijs van Lennep

Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1977 with: Hurley Haywood Jürgen Barth

Succeeded by: Jean-Pierre Jaussaud Didier Pironi

Preceded by: Bob Morris John Fitzpatrick

Winner of the Bathurst 1000 1977 (with Allan Moffat)

Succeeded by: Peter Brock Jim Richards

Preceded by: Alan Jones

Can-Am Champion 1979

Succeeded by: Patrick Tambay

Preceded by: Jean Rondeau Jean-Pierre Jaussaud

Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1981 with: Derek Bell

Succeeded by: Jacky Ickx Derek Bell

Preceded by: Jacky Ickx Derek Bell

Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1982 with: Derek Bell

Succeeded by: Vern Schuppan Al Holbert Hurley Haywood

Preceded by: Claude Marreau

Dakar Rally Winner 1983

Succeeded by: René Metge

Preceded by: Bob Garretson

World Endurance Champion 1982-1983

Succeeded by: Stefan Bellof

Preceded by: Freddy Maertens

Belgian Sportsman of the Year 1982

Succeeded by: Eddy Annys

Preceded by: Eugenio Castellotti 24 years, 238 days (1955 Belgian GP)

Youngest Grand Prix Pole Position Winner 23 years, 216 days (1968 German Grand Prix)

Succeeded by: Andrea de Cesaris 22 years, 308 days (1982 United States GP West)