Belgian racing driver (born 1961)
|
Years
| 1992
,
1994
,
1996
?
1998
,
2000
?
2002
,
2008
?
2010
|
---|
Teams
| Clayton Cunninghman Racing, Racing for Belgium/Team Scandia,
Nissan Motorsports
/
TWR
, Doyle-
Risi Racing
, Team
Cadillac
, Team
Bentley
,
Krohn Racing
|
---|
Best finish
| 3rd
(
2001
)
|
---|
Class wins
| 3
(
1998
,
2001
,
2002
)
|
---|
Eric Francis Edouard Ghislain Therese van de Poele
[1]
(
French pronunciation:
[e.?ik
v?n
d?
pwal,
-pw?l]
; born 30 September 1961) 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
. Before his Formula One career, he won the
Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft
.
Driving career
[
edit
]
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
.
[2]
He subsequently raced in
German Touring Cars
Championships, winning the 1987 championship despite not winning a race all season.
[3]
He also won the 1987
Spa 24 Hours
, sharing a car with
Didier Theys
and
Jean-Michel Martin
.
[3]
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
LeasePlan
. 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, finishing 13th, but did not manage to qualify the outdated car again.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.
[4]
In 2008, van de Poele competed in the
Rolex Sports Car Series
.
Racing record
[
edit
]
Complete German Formula Three results
[
edit
]
(
key
) (Races in
bold
indicate pole position) (Races in
italics
indicate fastest lap)
Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft results
[
edit
]
(
key
) (Races in
bold
indicate pole position) (Races in
italics
indicate fastest lap)
Complete International Formula 3000 results
[
edit
]
(
key
) (Races in
bold
indicate pole position; races in
italics
indicate fastest lap.)
Complete Formula One results
[
edit
]
(
key
) (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
[
edit
]
(
key
) (Races in
bold
indicate pole position) (Races in
italics
indicate fastest lap)
Complete Spanish Touring Car Championship results
[
edit
]
(
key
) (Races in
bold
indicate pole position; races in
italics
indicate fastest lap.)
24 Hours of Le Mans results
[
edit
]
Complete Grand Prix Masters results
[
edit
]
(
key
) Races in
bold
indicate pole position, races in
italics
indicate fastest lap.
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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Five-time
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Four-time
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Three-time
| |
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Two-time
| |
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One-time
| |
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|
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Six-time
| |
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Five-time
| |
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Four-time
| |
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Three-time
| |
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Two-time
| |
---|
One-time
| |
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|
---|
- Charles Van Acker
(
1950
)
- Johnny Claes
(
1950
?
1953
,
1955
)
- Jacques Swaters
(
1951
,
1953
?
1954
)
- Andre Pilette
(
1951
,
1953
?
1954
,
1956
,
1961
,
1963
?
1964
)
- Roger Laurent
(
1952
)
- Charles de Tornaco
(
1952
?
1953
)
- Arthur Legat
(
1952
?
1953
)
- Paul Frere
(
1952
?
1956
)
- Georges Berger
(
1953
?
1954
)
- Olivier Gendebien
(
1955
?
1956
,
1958
?
1961
)
- Andre Milhoux
(
1956
)
- Christian Goethals
(
1958
)
- Alain de Changy
(
1959
)
- Lucien Bianchi
(
1959
?
1963
,
1965
,
1968
)
- Willy Mairesse
(
1960
?
1963
,
1965
)
- Jacky Ickx
(
1966
?
1979
)
- Teddy Pilette
(
1974
,
1977
)
- Patrick Neve
(
1976
?
1978
)
- Bernard de Dryver
(
1977
?
1978
)
- Thierry Boutsen
(
1983
?
1993
)
- Bertrand Gachot
(
1989
?
1991
)
- Eric van de Poele
(
1991
?
1992
)
- Philippe Adams
(
1994
)
- Jerome d'Ambrosio
(
2011
?
2012
)
- Stoffel Vandoorne
(
2016
?
2018
)
|