Eric De Doncker experienced an awesome moment this year in the highly rated Group C Racing competition, which brings together Prototypes that ruled the endurance roost during the ‘80s and the beginning of the ‘90s, the golden era of the Group C regulations. A championship that had tickled the Belgian driver’s curiosity for quite a while … “I had always dreamt about these Group C muscle cars, and I finally took the plunge and acquired a Spice SE90C, in fact one of the two works cars out of the C1 category at that time, De Doncker explained. My model had actually finished 3rd in a round of the World Championship at Donington, driven by Eric van de Poele and Bruno Giacomelli. The car has obviously retained its livery of that time.”

By competing in the Group C Racing 2016 together with his Motorsport 98 team, Eric De Doncker had over and above all the intention of finding his bearings. The least one can say is that the outcome exceeded all expectations, as after the last two races of the season this weekend on the Paul Ricard circuit, within the context of the Dix Mille Tours by Peter Auto, the Belgian driver quite simply clinched the title in C1!  “By finishing 4th and 6th in the first two races of the season at Jarama, and even though I had not put in any test runs with the car, I soon realised that the performance was already on hand, Eric commented. In fact, I only experienced one retirement, at Spa, as the result of a loosened electric wire. As for the rest, the car’s perfectly fine-tuned work put in by Julien Daivier and Yannick Desmadryl, the Motorsport 98 technicians, clearly made all the difference. In the Le Mans Classic race, undeniably the season’s peak event on the circuit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, I finished in 2nd spot overall. Seeing the points system at the Sarthe counted double I found myself leading the championship, with as ultimate rival Tommy Dreelan, who races a fearsome Porsche 962 C, but also has a professional teammate, Aaron Scott. Everything would therefore be played for this weekend at Paul Ricard…”

A potentially explosive weekend, which started off with a scare when a sparkplug sheared off a thread of the Cosworth engine’s cylinder head … “Luckily once again the team were able to work miracles, and I was finally able to compete in two races with as main objective to finish and ensure scoring points, De Doncker added. This Sunday, during Race 2, when leaving the pits having been obliged to fit a new tyre due to a puncture, the engine cut out for a few seconds. I screamed as I thought it was a new electrical problem, but after analysis, it transpired to be the ECU that had gone into safety mode. My guys soon sorted out the problem, which allowed me to get going again, finish the race and grab the necessary points to claim the overall tittle!”

Trial run, and a master stroke for Eric De Doncker and his Motorsport 98 outfit… “As we celebrate this title, I wish to strongly thank Julien, Yannick, all the team members, my wife Catherine for her unfailing support and presence by my side, as also Geoff Richardson Engines, BMTR and Avon. This Group C Racing championship continues to evolve in the right direction under the leadership of Peter Auto, and its promoters for the future. From my side I still need to progress at the wheel of this Spice developing 600 bhp with its impressive downforce. This will be the objective for the 2017 season, in the course of which I have the firm intention of fully defending my title. With near on 25 cars present in the Var, competition is ever more important, which makes the challenge even more interesting.”

Hardly back from Paul Ricard, Eric De Doncker will be heading off for Zolder, where the final round of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series is taking place next weekend, with a certain Jeff Gordon, an American motorsport icon, who will be acting as the Grand Marshal. For Motorsport 98, this will be another challenge within a highly competitive context. Action…