Watch Tom “Mr. Lemans” Kristensen Take The Legendary Alan Mann Thunderbolt From 4th To First In One Lap!


Watch Tom “Mr. Lemans” Kristensen Take The Legendary Alan Mann Thunderbolt From 4th To First In One Lap!

Call me a lout, call me a doofus, call me an Ugly American, but I cannot get enough of this video featuring Tom Kristensen going from 4th place to first place in one lap at the Goodwood Revival Meeting. Kristensen is not exactly short on talent, he has the record for the most wins at Le Mans with 9 and he pulled six of those off in a row. In this case he is not driving a high faultin’ modern Le Mans car but rather a hunk of English historic road racing iron that’s so awesome it nearly makes us weak talking about it.

The Alan Mann Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt was built by Holman and Moody in 1964 and then raced by Mann in 1965. Mann won multiple races with the car and it has remained an awesome mainstay in England for more then 50 years now.

You will see Kristensen slide this car all over the place, use the majority of the race track, and ultimately out muscle the other cars in his group which include a sprightly little Lotus Cortina and an Alfa Romeo GTV. While those cars are down on power, they are absolutely more nimble in the corners. You can see how much more composed they are as opposed to the big Ford which looks like a giant playing among the residents of a pigmy town.

Kristensen is amazing in this video. Talk about a guy who has incredible talent. He is likely driving the crudest car he has ever sat in and he drives it like a complete and utter boss. It is great when a driver can get the most out of a car and  really work it for all that it’s worth. That’s exactly what you are going to see here.

Press play below to see Tom “Mr Lemans” Kristensen go from 4th to 1st in one lap!


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4 thoughts on “Watch Tom “Mr. Lemans” Kristensen Take The Legendary Alan Mann Thunderbolt From 4th To First In One Lap!

  1. Riverratcustoms

    Now that is some good old fashioned racing!!! I like it!! Way better than boring NASCAR. These cars are high dollar classics and they’re driving ’em like they stole ’em…

  2. Alex

    I was at that race in 2015 and it was fantastic what that Fairlane would do. I subsequently ordered a poster from Alan Mann racing and it hangs in my hallway with race ticket and program for the entire event.

  3. Gary D

    Fantastic. Entertaining. No aero wings gluing the cars to the track and they slide all over. Doesn’t matter what the lap times are, the competition is what matters. This reminds me of a story from long ago when Dan Gurney drove a full size ’61 Chevy 409 in a “saloon” race in England. Same situation, honking 409 V8 howling down the straights but seriously out performed by the Euro’s braking and handling in the corners – the Chevy had drum brakes at all four corners. As I recall, Gurney’s car broke down with a broken wheel when the wheel center gave up with all the stress of the corners. Great reading.

  4. Michael

    Alan Mann Racing ran a Thunderbolt in-period although that car has seemingly vanished over time. The faithful recreation you see here was nailed together by Holman Moody in 2002-2003 and has only recently been finished in a colour scheme closely resembling the car Alan Mann used to run.

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