Eric van de Poele
Eric van de Poele is a Belgian racing driver and former Formula One driver. He participated in 29 Grands Prix, in 1991 and 1992. He is a three-times class winner at 24 Hours of Le Mans, and won three Formula 3000 races in 1990.
After a difficult 1984 season in French Formula Three, van de Poele then won the Belgian and Benelux Formula Ford titles, also racing in the Belgian Touring Car Championship. He subsequently raced in German Touring Cars Championships, winning the 1987 championship despite not winning a race all season. He also won the 1987 Spa 24 Hours, sharing a car with Didier Theys and Jean-Michel Martin. He also dabbled in British Formula 3. For 1989, he moved up to Formula 3000, finishing fourth, and then runner-up in 1990.
After this, he signed for the Modena Formula One team for 1991, driving their Lamborghini cars thanks to backing from long-time sponsors Lease Plan. He qualified onto the grid at his third attempt, for the 1991 San Marino Grand Prix. There he impressed in the rain, running fifth in the last lap before the car ran out of fuel, dropping him to ninth. The team, in financial difficulties, was unable to build on this success, and van de Poele would not race again that year.
He then signed for Brabham in 1992, but the team were low on money. He qualified for the opening South African Grand Prix, finishing 13th, but did not manage to qualify the outdated car again. He frequently matched team-mate Damon Hill in the other Brabham, however. For the Hungarian Grand Prix he switched to the promising Fondmetal team. He qualified the car at the first attempt, only to spin out. He then started an excellent 15th for the Belgian Grand Prix, finishing 10th, and qualified again for the Italian Grand Prix, only for the clutch to break. After this, Fondmetal also hit money troubles and withdrew, leaving van de Poele without a drive.
Aside from a largely unused capacity as test driver for Tyrrell in 1993, van de Poele has since found considerable success in Touring Cars and sports cars, winning the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1995 and 1996 and the Petit Le Mans in 1998. He has also added to his 1987 win in the Spa 24 Hours with four more wins in 1998, 2005, 2006 and 2008, giving him the record of five wins in the event.
In 2008, van de Poele competed in the Rolex Sports Car Series.
Racing record
Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft results
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | Pts | |
| 1987 | Zakspeed BMW Team | BMW M3 | HOC 2 | ZOL 10 | NÜR 4 | AVU 4 | MFA 8 | NOR 6 | NÜR 8 | WUN 3 | DIE 2 | SAL 10 | 1st | 127 | ||||||||||||||
| 1988 | BMW M Team Linder | BMW M3 Evo | ZOL 1 | ZOL 2 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | BRN 1 | BRN 2 | AVU 1 | AVU 2 | MFA 1 | MFA 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | NOR 1 | NOR 2 | WUN 1 | WUN 2 | SAL 1 | SAL 2 | HUN 1 | HUN 2 | HOC 1 6 | HOC 2 Ret | 34th | 13 |
| 1989 | BMW Faltz Essen | BMW M3 Evo | ZOL 1 | ZOL 2 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | MFA 1 | MFA 2 | AVU 1 | AVU 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | NOR 1 15 | NOR 2 DNS | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | DIE 1 | DIE 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | 39th | 4 | ||
| 1990 | BMW M Team Schnitzer | BMW M3 Sport Evo | ZOL 1 | ZOL 2 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | AVU 1 | AVU 2 | MFA 1 | MFA 2 | WUN 1 | WUN 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | NOR 1 | NOR 2 | DIE 1 | DIE 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | HOC 1 15 | HOC 2 10 | 32nd | 1 |
Complete International Formula 3000 results
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pts | |
| 1989 | Players/GA Motorsports/Colt Racing | Lola T89/50 | Cosworth | SIL 6 | VAL 3 | PAU Ret | JER 4 | PER Ret | BRH Ret | BIR 14 | SPA 4 | BUG 2 | DIJ 5 | 5th | 19 | |
| 1990 | GA Motorsport | Reynard 90D | Cosworth | DON 6 | SIL 5 | PAU 1 | JER 9 | MNZ 9 | PER Ret | HOC Ret | BRH Ret | BIR 1 | BUG 10 | NOG 1 | 2nd | 30 |
Complete Formula One results
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pts | |
| 1991 | Modena Team SpA | Lambo 291 | Lamborghini 3512 3.5 V12 | USA DNPQ | BRA DNPQ | SMR 9 | MON DNPQ | CAN DNPQ | MEX DNPQ | FRA DNPQ | GBR DNPQ | GER DNQ | HUN DNQ | BEL DNQ | ITA DNQ | POR DNQ | ESP DNQ | JPN DNQ | AUS DNQ | NC | 0 |
| 1992 | Motor Racing Developments | Brabham BT60B | Judd GV 3.5 V10 | RSA 13 | MEX DNQ | BRA DNQ | ESP DNQ | SMR DNQ | MON DNQ | CAN DNQ | FRA DNQ | GBR DNQ | GER DNQ | NC | 0 | ||||||
| 1992 | Fondmetal | Fondmetal GR02 | Ford HBA5 3.5 V8 | HUN Ret | BEL 10 | ITA Ret | POR | JPN | AUS | NC | 0 |
Complete British Touring Car Championship results
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | Pts | |
| 1994 | Old Spice Nissan Racing | Nissan Primera eGT | THR 1 13 | BRH 1 DNS | BRH 2 DNS | SNE 1 9 | SIL 1 13 | SIL 2 12 | OUL 1 14 | DON 1 17 | DON 2 13 | BRH 1 14 | BRH 2 12 | SIL 1 DNS | KNO 1 | KNO 2 | OUL 1 | BRH 1 | BRH 2 | SIL 1 | SIL 2 | DON 1 | DON 2 | 22nd | 2 |