In the last lap…

Eric van de Poele drove an excellent race, when at the wheel of his Lamborghini 291 at Imola in 1991 (picture-above) he climbed through the field, was fifth in the last lap and was about to score points so important for the team, before fuel pressure problems dropped him back to 9th…

The Belgian remembers: “It was the week-end of my first pre-qualification, my first qualification, my first Grand Prix start, and very nearly my first checkered flag and my first points… for just 400m!! Every time I meet Mika (Häkkinen), I remind him that these two first championship points of his, were actually mine, but that I offered them to him with good heart!”

The Lambo 291 was a Formula One car designed by Mauro Forghieri and was entered by the Modena Team SpA. It had a carbon fibre monocoque and was powered by the 3.5 litre Lamborghini V12 (90°). Drivers for this 1991 F1 season were Italian Nicola Larini and Belgian Eric van de Poele.

The team struggled and besides at Imola, did not come close to points and usually failed to get through pre-qualifying until the British Grand Prix where the team was promoted to the “prequalified group”.

However, the failures to pre-qualify were now mostly replaced by failure to get through the regular qualifying sessions, and only Nicola Larini (picture-below) would give the car four more Grand Prix starts, but no points were scored.