Eric van de Poele

Eric Francis Edouard Ghislain Therese van de Poele (30 September 1961 - Present): Belgian racing driver from Verviers who found greater success in touring cars and sports cars than Formula 1. Before F1, he won the 1987 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft despite not winning a single race all season. He moved to F3000 in 1989, finishing fourth, then runner-up in 1990 with three race victories. Van de Poele participated in 29 grands prix in 1991-1992, failing to make the grid 24 times and scoring no championship points.

With Modena in 1991, he impressed in the rain at San Marino, running fifth on the last lap before running out of fuel and dropping to ninth, but the struggling team never built on this success. In 1992 with Brabham, he qualified for the opening South African GP, finishing 13th, but couldn't qualify the outdated car again. Switching to Fondmetal for Hungary, he qualified at his first attempt but spun out, then finished 10th at the Belgian GP before the team's withdrawal due to money troubles. He served as Tyrrell test driver in 1993.

Post-F1, he achieved considerable success winning the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1995-1996, Petit Le Mans in 1998, and a record five Spa 24 Hours victories (1987, 1998, 2005, 2006, 2008).