Eric van de Poele (born 30 September 1961) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

and former

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

driver. He participated in 29 Grands Prix, in 1991 and 1992. He is a three-times class winner at

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

, and won three Formula 3000 races in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

Driving career

After a difficult 1984 season in French

Formula Three Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

, van de Poele then won the Belgian and Benelux

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...

titles, also racing in the

Belgian Touring Car Championship Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German * Ancient Belgian language, an extinct langua ...

. 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 The 24 Hours of Spa is an Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by TotalEnergies. History The Spa 24 Hours was ...

, sharing a car with

Didier Theys Didier Theys (born 19 October 1956) is a Belgian sports car driver. He is a two-time overall winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona (1998 and 2002); a winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring (1998); the Sports Racing Prototype driver champion of the Grand ...

and

Jean-Michel Martin Jean-Michel Martin (born 19 June 1953) is a Belgian racing driver. He won the 24 Hours of Spa four times, including twice with his younger brother Philippe in 1979 and 1980. His son Maxime also won the race in 2016. He was on the winning team of ...

. He also dabbled in British Formula 3. For 1989, he moved up to

Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championships ...

, finishing fourth, and then runner-up in 1990. After this, he signed for the

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

Formula One team for 1991, driving their

Lamborghini Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. () is an Italian brand and manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its subsidiary Audi. Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916–1993) ...

cars thanks to backing from long-time sponsors

LeasePlan LeasePlan is an international company of Dutch origins, specialised in automobile leasing and fleet management. Its products are composed of operational fleet management services. It was founded in 1963. It has more than 14% of its approximately ...

. 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 Brabham () is the common name for Motor Racing Developments Ltd., a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. Founded in 1960 by Australian driver Jack Brabham and British-Australian designer Ron Tauranac, the team won four ...

in 1992, but the team were low on money. He qualified for the opening

South African Grand Prix The South African Grand Prix was first run as a Grand Prix motor racing handicap race in 1934 at the Prince George Circuit at East London, Cape Province. It drew top drivers from Europe including Bernd Rosemeyer, Richard "Dick" Seaman, Richa ...

, finishing 13th, but did not manage to qualify the outdated car again. He frequently matched team-mate

Damon Hill Damon Graham Devereux Hill, (born 17 September 1960) is a British former professional racing driver from England and the 1996 Formula One World Champion. He is the son of Graham Hill, and, along with Nico Rosberg, one of two sons of a Formu ...

in the other Brabham, however. For the

Hungarian Grand Prix The Hungarian Grand Prix ( hu, Magyar Nagydíj) is a motor racing event held annually in Mogyoród. Since 1986, the race has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Championship. History Origins The first Hungarian Grand Prix was held on 21 ...

he switched to the promising

Fondmetal Fondmetal S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of alloy wheels, founded in 1972 by Gabriele Rumi. A Formula One constructor of the same name, also owned by Rumi, competed in the and seasons, scoring no championship points. The company also spon ...

team. He qualified the car at the first attempt, only to spin out. He then started an excellent 15th for the

Belgian Grand Prix The Belgian Grand Prix (French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula One World Championship. The first national race of ...

, finishing 10th, and qualified again for the

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...

, only for the clutch to break. After this,

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 Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not mo ...

and

sports cars A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

, winning the

12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in Sebring, Florida, US. The event is the second round ...

in 1995 and 1996 and the

Petit Le Mans The Petit Le Mans (French for ''little Le Mans'') is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, USA. It uses the rules established for the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which ...

in 1998. He has also added to his 1987 win in the Spa 24 Hours with four more wins in 1998,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, giving him the record of five wins in the event. In 2008, van de Poele competed in the

Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...

Racing record

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.)

Complete Formula One results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) † Driver did not finish the race, but were still classified as they completed 90% of the race distance.

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Spanish Touring Car Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.)

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete Grand Prix Masters results

(

) Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van De Poele, Eric 1961 births Living people Belgian racing drivers Belgian Formula One drivers Modena Formula One drivers Brabham Formula One drivers Fondmetal Formula One drivers French Formula Three Championship drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers Grand Prix Masters drivers Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters champions Trans-Am Series drivers British Touring Car Championship drivers International Formula 3000 drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers American Le Mans Series drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Porsche Supercup drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers 12 Hours of Sebring drivers Peugeot Sport drivers Schnitzer Motorsport drivers BMW M drivers Nismo drivers Racing Bart Mampaey drivers AF Corse drivers