Eric van de Poele
This popular Belgian driver began his career in French Formula 3 in 1984, before a season in Belgian Group N and the Benelux Formula Ford championships. Eric then briefly tasted the German F3 series but really made an impression in the Zakspeed BMW Junior team, winning the German championship, with the added highlight of a victory in the Spa 24 Hours with Theys and Martin. After another season of touring cars with Schnitzer BMW, Eric made the break into single-seaters at last with an F3000 drive with GA Motorsports in 1989. He was to enjoy two happy years with the team, taking second place in the 1990 championship after three wins (Pau, Birmingham and Nogaro).
With long-time sponsors Lease Plan behind him, Eric joined the newly formed Lambo team for a crack at Grands Prix in 1991. The car was never a competitive proposition, but mysteriously it ran very well at Imola, van de Poele holding a secure fifth place until a fuel pump failure on the last lap. For 1992 Eric threw in his lot with the by now distinctly shaky Brabham team for another frustrating string of non-qualifications, before jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire with Fondmetal team also facing imminent extinction.
He was on the sidelines for much of 1993, but landed a deal to lead the Nissan Primera challenge in the 1994 British touring car championship. It was to be a tough old season as the team struggled to optimise the car. Frustrated at the lack of progress, Eric quit the series in mid-season, though it was not to harm his long-term prospects with the Japanese manufacturer.
Early in 1995, sharing a Ferrari 333SP with Fermin Velez, he won the Sebring 12 Hours (also taking a stint in the Baldi/Alboreto fourth-place car). When the season got into full swing Eric was back behind the wheel of a Primera, this time in the Spanish touring car championship. With the car now a much more serious contender, van de Poele enjoyed two competitive seasons in the series, but another win at Sebring (this time with a Riley & Scott) left him itching for a return to the more potent prototype classes
The Belgian joined Wayne Taylor in the Doyle Risi Racing Ferrari 333SP to contest the Professional Racing Series in America in 1998 and won rounds at Las Vegas and the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Teaming up with Mimo Schiattarella at Team Rafanelli for 1999, Eric won the opening round of the ALMS Series at Atlanta, but his season was then dealt a serious blow when a jammed throttle caused a heavy crash testing the works Nissan in preparation for the Le Mans 24-hour race, which left him sidelined for three months with cracked vertebrae.
After making a full recovery, Eric still continued racing regularly in both the Grand Am, ALMS and the FIA GT Championships, handling a myriad number of sports and GT machines on an ad-hoc basis, including a Cadillac, Lister, Porsche, Ferrari and Maserati.
In 2006 he made an impressive return to single seaters in the Grand Prix Masters series, taking a third place at Losail and then second spot in the next race at Silverstone.
