6 days ago
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Jacky Ickx isn’t a household name in the same way that say, Jackie Stewart is. Or Mario Andretti, Niki Lauda, James Hunt or Australia’s own Jack Brabham.
Sure, the Belgian racer, now aged 80, has achieved fame and fortune through his exploits on the world’s racetracks, but inevitably, when the subject of greatness comes up, rarely is his name mentioned in the same rarified air as those of his world championship-winning contemporaries.
And that’s to do Ickx a disservice because the Belgian is one of the most versatile – arguably the most versatile driver – of not only his generation, but all time.
His record speaks for itself, Ickx having won in every category he’s raced.
From his early days on motorcycles to touring cars in the UK, to his eight F1 grand prix victories and six Le Mans 24-Hour wins, two World Sportscar Championships, a Can-Am title in the US, outright victory in the gruelling Dakar Rally and even a triumphant Bathurst 1000 win in 1977, sharing a Falcon with Allan Moffat in that oh-so-iconic 1-2 form finish, Ickx was a master across multiple categories and disciplines.
In short, there wasn’t a car Ickx couldn’t tame, couldn’t master, bending machinery to his will, seemingly with consummate ease.
But the affable Belgian, who was in Sydney recently for a flying visit to the Bathurst 12 Hour for his partners Genesis and Chopard, says he would rather have been a “gardener or gamekeeper” as he “dislikes noise… I like peace, the quietness of the wild” – and plays down his varied on-track success and achievements with quiet humility.
“Everyone was doing it in my era,” he says. “Everybody was doing saloon car racing, Formula 2, the Tasman Series… hill climbs.”
That may have been true of that generation of Formula 1 stars, where drivers would race in F1 one weekend, contest an endurance race the next, or fly to the US and race in Indy cars, or even – as is the case for Ickx – make their way to Australia to contest the Bathurst 1000, no other driver enjoyed as much success across so many different motor racing disciplines as Ickx.
And the roll call of teams and manufacturers Ickx has driven for is equally as impressive and diverse.
In F1, Ickx’s 13-year career spanned time with Tyrrell, Brabham, Ferrari, McLaren, Lotus and Ligier while in sports cars, and the Belgian raced for Ferrari, Porsche, and Ford in the fearsome GT40 – scoring the first of his six wins at Le Mans in 1969.
In British saloon cars, Ickx was a regular for Lotus while in Formula 2, Tyrrell, BMW and Ferrari called upon his services too.
He contested the Dakar rally variously for Citroen, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Peugeot and even Lada, piloting a “very special” Niva across the dunes in 1987 and again in 1988. “It had a Formula 2 engine and a special gearbox,” Ickx recalls of the little Russian off-roader.
Ask him why he contested so many races across so many series for so many teams, and Ickx is typically forthright.
“I came because it was available, and the [F1] calendar allowed me to go. And the notion of exclusivity did not exist. With Porsche for example, when you have a free day, you could go and do something for somebody else," he says.
“I could drive for Ford in long distance and for Ferrari in Formula One.”
But that undersells his ability in the car, Ickx adept at extracting the most from the machinery at his disposal.
“It’s easy to win when you have a good car,” he says with typical candour and humility.
And win he did, often dovetailing multiple championships and races across a calendar year.
His eight F1 Grand Prix wins, 25 podiums, 14 fastest laps and twice finishing runner-up in the F1 world championship would have been enough for most drivers to hang their hat on.
Not Ickx, who won races and championships in almost every category he contested. He won the Le Mans 24 Hour a record-breaking six times, the last in 1982. That record of six wins stood until 2005 when Denmark’s Tom Kristensen won the seventh of his nine total victories at La Sarthe.
He was crowned Can-Am champion in 1979, won the World Sportscar Championship in 1982 and again 1983.
And to underscore his versatility, in 1983 Ickx drove a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen to victory in the gruelling Dakar Rally, an event he describes as “the hardest race you can do, but at least when you have done it, you know who you are.”
If that all sounds a bit philosophical, then that provides an insight to Jacky Ickx the man, not the racer. He is a thoughtful speaker, blending stories of his achievements on the racetrack with musings on human nature.
On Dakar he says, “You discover that there are other humans who live on the planet… they live with very different traditions, very different thoughts.
“And you face new traditions, new styles, new individuals, a new and different spirit, and different culture. So you see the world differently, and that’s nice.”
In the same breath, Ickx adds, “And I love the fact that you are tempted to fly at altitude when you go into the desert and when you compete in the desert, you have to land on the ground.”
He’s talking about getting airborne over the Sahara’s massive sand dunes, but he could just as easily be talking about life.
For all his success on the track, Ickx remains circumspect by the one glaring omission on his CV. He never won an F1 world championship, finishing runner-up twice, in 1969 and again in ’70. That has earned him a spot on the list of greatest drivers to never win the title, his name alongside such greats as Stirling Moss, Ronnie Peterson, and Gilles Villeneuve.
He came closest in 1970, that most of tragic of seasons when Austria’s Jochen Rindt was crowned the sport’s first, and thankfully so far only, posthumous world champion.
Rindt was killed in qualifying at the Italian Grand Prix, having won five of the nine grands prix contested to that point. With four races remaining, Ickx remained the only driver with a mathematical chance of overhauling Rindt’s points tally. And he came close, oh so close.
The Belgian retired from the tragedy-marred Italian Grand Prix, won the Canadian race, finished fourth in the US and ended the season with another win in Mexico to fall a measly five points short of Rindt’s score.
But ask him today if he felt 1970 was a missed opportunity, an F1 world championship gone begging, and his answer is filled with dignity and respect, believing that Rindt was the right person to win the title. He has previously said he did not want to win the title against a man who could not defend himself, and when I ask him about this, his reply is emphatic.
“I have not changed my mind,” he says. “He had more points than me, even at the end. I was beaten.
“I think I could not find any other answer… and I don’t have to show any regret about the subject, because my life is beautiful.”
Today Jacky Ickx spends his time tending his garden in his home in Belgium, dovetailing his green thumb with appearances for luxury watchmaker Chopard, for whom he has been a brand ambassador for nearly 40 years and more recently, Korean car maker Genesis. He’s also a regular participant in the Mille Miglia, often sharing a car with good friend and Chopard CEO Karl-Friedrich Scheufele.
“We have developed a relationship where often, today, they say I am a member of the family,” says Ickx of his ties to the watchmaker. “And I think that’s the nicest compliment you can [pay to someone].”
Does he ever reflect on his time in motorsport, look back the multitude of trophies that must line the shelves in almost every room of his home?
“No, I don’t have a single trophy in my house,” he laughs. “They are in the cellar. What’s the point? It’s behind you. The most important part [of life] is the present and the future, or what remains of the future.
“That’s the reality. I live in the present. The privilege is to live in the present.”
Jacky Ickx: Gardener, racer, legend.
Rob Margeit is an award-winning Australian motoring journalist and editor who has been writing about cars and motorsport for over 25 years. A former editor of Australian Auto Action, Rob’s work has also appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Wheels, Motor Magazine, Street Machine and Top Gear Australia. Rob’s current rides include a 1996 Mercedes-Benz E-Class and a 2000 Honda HR-V Sport.
