Jacky Ickx drove 86 hours(!) of the Nürburgring: 'With 17 jumps!'

Eight Grand Prix victories in Formula 1, six at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a win at the 24 Hours of Daytona, and a final triumph in the Dakar Rally: these are just a few examples of Jacky Ickx's fantastic list of honours.

The 81-year-old Belgian ace raced in Formula 1 in the 1960s and 1970s for Ferrari, Brabham and Lotus, among others. In those days, however, it was normal to enter other races alongside the pinnacle of motorsport. 

Ickx never dreamed of a career in motor racing until he achieved success on motorbikes. His switch to cars was accompanied by participation in several legendary races, even before he reached F1.

In an exclusive interview with RacingNews365, Ickx discusses his participation in an astonishing event - the 86 Hours of Nürburgring - an ultra-endurance event designed to test drivers and cars to the absolute limit.

"There is no secret to the Nürburgring," said Ickx. "I'll tell you why.

"In the early years, in 1965 and 1966, I participated in the 86 Hours of Nürburgring twice. After about 68 hours at the Nürburgring, if you don't know the course well, you have a problem; a serious problem if you don't know where you're going."

"Once I competed with Gilbert Staepelaere, a great rally driver from Belgium, and once with Jochen Neerpasch. Once I drove a Lotus Cortina, and once a Ford Mustang. But back then, the Nürburgring didn't look like it does now. There were 17 jumps!"

Free choice to drive

And those jumps were not without danger, Ickx knows. "The car really came off the ground.

"Sometimes it involved the front, sometimes the back and sometimes all four wheels. I have pictures where the F1 cars from Ferrari or Brabham were hanging 40 to 50 centimetres above the ground. Anyway, it was a circuit that suited me well."

Ickx said he always felt very comfortable on longer circuits. "If you ask me what my favourite circuits were, I also did well on the long circuit of Spa," he said.

"In 1973, I raced there with a Ferrari, which was certainly not the best at that time. During practice sessions, I averaged 263 kilometres per hour on the 13-kilometre circuit, and that was not a modern car.

"I felt comfortable on both fast and slow circuits. And because of motor racing, I think I was also good in the rain."

Despite the great dangers of that time, Ickx never actually felt any fear in a car.

"I was happy with what I was doing," he said. "Life was beautiful. When you're young, you only put the good points on the list and not the bad.

"Racing is a struggle. When you start thinking about a flat tyre... At that time, safety really only consisted of straw bales, but very limited. You only saw electricity poles, houses, ditches and fields."

Due to that lack of fear, Ickx is adamant that the drivers of yesteryear were far from daring.

"Never tell someone from the past that he was brave," remarked Ickx. "Because ultimately the philosophy is: whatever you decide to do, risky or not, you have to remember that it's a free choice. You're not forced to do it."