Jacky Ickx, honored with the 2025 Lifetime Sport Achievement Award

The international cultural event that celebrates excellence in sports media and honours the most beautiful sporting emotions on screen, unveils the recipient of the 2025 Lifetime Sport Achievement Award. The trophy will be presented to Jacky Ickx, an iconic figure in world motorsport, during the SPORTEL Awards Ceremony on Monday, 20 October 2025 at the Grimaldi Forum Monaco. The Lifetime Sport Achievement Award honours an international athlete for his or her sporting exploits. This prestigious distinction pays tribute to outstanding careers that have left a lasting mark on history and on the collective imagination.

A driver of universal talent, Jacky Ickx spanned more than three decades of motor racing, excelling wherever speed was at stake. With 32 active seasons between 1961 and 1992, over 555 races contested and an extraordinary record of achievements, Jacky Ickx left his mark on every discipline he embraced. A two-time European Formula 2 Champion (1967 and 1970), twice Formula 1 Vice-World Champion, and winner of 8 Grands Prix, he established himself as one of the greatest talents of his generation.

It is, however, in endurance racing that he truly entered legend: six-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, named Driver of the Century in this discipline, he boasts a record 46 endurance race victories and two World Endurance Drivers’ Championships with Porsche (1982 and 1983). Winner of the 1983 Paris-Dakar Rally and author of 40 stage wins in rally raid, he also shone in Can-Am, claiming the title in 1979.  Nicknamed the Gentleman Driver, Mr. Le Mans and the Rain Master, Jacky Ickx fascinates with his exceptional versatility, elegance and charisma. More than just a driver, he has become a benchmark, respected and admired throughout the world.

A man of action, he has also served as ambassador for leading automotive brands, notably Volkswagen and Porsche, and since February 2024 he has been brand partner of Genesis, the luxury label of the Hyundai group, which recently announced its entry into the World Endurance Championship.

Marine Picoulet, Executive Director of the SPORTEL Awards, stated: “Presenting the Lifetime Sport Achievement Award to Jacky Ickx means paying tribute to much more than an exceptional record. It is about celebrating a unique career that spans generations and has shaped the history of motorsport. His passion, versatility and aura make him a truly unique champion, whose influence goes far beyond the circuits".