VICE CHAMPION FORMULA 3000
Autocourse -99 By Tony Dodgins Autosport For a time it seemed that DAMS might achieve a championship -2.Indeed,if the series had not lost its last race at Dijon-more of which anon-the team may well have done.as things turned out,the honour of finishing runner-up fell to Eric van de Poele and his GA Motorsport Reynard.Just about every team boss in the paddock fancied running the Belgian.An uncomplicated, down to earth nice guy,he simply gets his head down and comes up with the goods.never furnished with the biggest of budgets,van de Poele nevertheless won three races.he Performed superbly to win at Pau,achieved a street double at Birmingham and then drove perhaps his best race at Nogaro.With the Lola enjoying a substantial advantage in qualifying at the French circuit,eric really had no business to be first past the post there.but he made a Villeneuve start,took full advantage of wet early conditions and proceeded to make the rest look a little silly.the drive said a lot about his resolve,too,coming at a time when he and Marco Apicella were undertaking testing duties for the new Modena-Lamborghini F team and were both in contention for a full time seat.very much in the Derek Warwick mould,van de Poele is an enthusiast who loves driving wether it be racing or testing.a forward thinking F boss would have done well to add him to his Christmas list. Eric s win at Birminham (foto F Rejects)
Review of the Championship DONINGTON 200 GOLD CUP 22 april 6 Eric Comas (Lola T90/50 Mugen) Eric van de Poele (Reynard 90D Cosworth DFV) 42nd INTERNATIONAL TROPHY SILVERSTONE UK 9 mei 5 Allan Mc Nish (Lola T90/50 Mugen) Eric van de Poele 50th GRAND PRIX DE PAU PAU STREET CIRCUIT F 7 juni Eric van de Poele FIA INTERNATIONAL F 3000 CHAMPIONSHIP AUTODROMO NAZIONALE DI MONZA 24 juni 9 Eric Comas Eric van de Poele
FL Damon Hill GRAN PREMIO DEL MEDITERRANEO ENTE AUTODROMO DI PERGUSA ENNA SICELY 22 juli Gianni Morbidelli (Lola T90/50 Cosworth DFV) 20 Eric van de Poele Accident DNF FL Damon Hill FIA INTERNATIONAL F3000 CHAMPIONSHIP HOCKENHEIM 28 juli Eddy Irvine (Reynard 90D Mugen) 22 Eric van de Poele DNF front upright FL Apicella
Start te Hockenheim (foto Autocourse) FIA INTERNATIONAL FORMULA 3000 CHAMPIONSHIP RACE BRAND HATCH UK 9 Augustus Allan McNish 5 Eric van de Poele DNF Fuel pick up FL M Bartels HALFORDS BIRMINGHAM SUPERPRIX BIRMINGHAM STREET CIRCUIT UK 27 Augustus Eric van de Poele FL Apicella
FIA INTERNATIONAL FORMULA 3000 CHAMPIONSHIP RACE BUGATTI CIRCUIT LE MANS F 23 September 0 Eric Comas Eric van de Poele FIA INTERNATIONAL FORMULA 3000 CHAMPIONSHIP RACE CIRCUIT PAUL ARMAGNAC NOGARO F 7 Oktober Eric van de Poele FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS 2 3 4 5 6 Eric Comas Eric van de Poele Eddy Irvine Allan McNish Marco Apicella Gianni Morbidelli 5 points 30 points 27 points 26 points 20 points 20 points
Tijdens de race te Birmingham (foto Autocourse)
Naast het Formule 3000 kampioenschap werden er nog enkele uitstapjes gemaakt in het World Sports Prototype kampioenschap met de Spice Cosworth. Autocourse -99 As in 89 the turbos were consistensly harried and baited by the work Spices,running to the 99 rules with free-fuel atmo engines and a 750kg weight limit. The SE 90C was virtually unchanged from its predecessor,but featured upgraded Cosworth DFR engines instead of a workable budget,which meant using paying drivers at every opportunity.the team also had to drop the entry from two cars to one by the season s end, diluting what was potentially a very strong challenge.the chopping and changing did not help continuity and among those to figure in the multinational line-up were Wayne Taylor,Bruno Giacomelli,Tim Harvey?Eric van de Poele,Fermin Velez,Elisco Salazar and Cor Euser. In retrospect, the Spice results were perhaps less impressive than anticipated, for after 89 the cars were reckned to be potential race winners by the opposition.two thirds, at Silverstone and Donington, were the highlights of a year spoiled by niggling problems and a lack of Goodyears suited to the lightweight car. Results: Trofeo Carraciolo Autodromo Nazionale di Monza 29 April -6th Wayne taylor/eric van de Poele Shell Donington Trophy Donington Park Circuit -5th Eric van de Poele/Bruno Giacomelli 2 September One of the Spices in action
Doningthon IMSA GTO LIME ROCK start,34th overall,8 points with Jabouille