On June 14, 1969, when the drivers sprinted to their cars for the start of the 37th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, no one would have bet on Jacky Ickx for the win. And for good reason: to protest a starting formation he deemed too dangerous, he decided to...walk to his car! So, he took off dead last (though his Ford GT40 had qualified in 14th position). After a remarkable climb, the Belgian driver and his teammate the Brit Jackie Oliver reached the top 3 by Sunday morning. With three hours left in the race, the No. 6 GT40 entered the fight for victory with the Porsche 908 of Gérard Larrousse-Hans Herrmann. Ickx heated things up in the last moments of the race, overcoming Herrmann in the very last lap! The Ford and the Porsche crossed the finish line with what is still to this day the smallest distance gap (120 meters) in the history of the 24 Hours.

A month and a half later on August 3, 1969, Ickx drove for Brabham at the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Germany at Nordschleife, the famous "North Loop" of the Nürburgring. At nearly 23 kilometers long with more than 170 turns, only highly skilled drivers could manage it well. Qualified in pole position (in 7:42:1), the Belgian driver started badly and fell back to ninth position. It took him three laps (the race was 14 laps, or 319km) to catch up to the leader, Jackie Stewart (Matra) and four more to take the lead. The Scot then had gearbox problems. Ickx took off and crossed the finish line with a 57-second lead (the gaps are excessive at the Nürburgring!) on Stewart, and clocked for good measure the best race lap (7:43:8).

In less than two months, Ickx achieved two career highlights: the first made him - after five additional wins at Le Mans - "Mister Le Mans," and the second made him "Ringmeister," a highly respected moniker given to drivers at the top of their game at the Nürburgring.

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, SUNDAY JUNE 15 1969, PODIUM. Jacky Ickx (at right) and Jackie Oliver celebrate a first legendary win. For the first, five others would follow in 1975, '76, '77, '81 and '82.