Michael Herck (born 4 August 1988 in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

) is a

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

- Belgian retired racing driver.

Career

Early life

Herck was adopted at the age of one and a half years by millionaire André Herck, a Belgian citizen born in Bucharest. Herck grew up in

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

, and began his racing career in

karting Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motor ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

where he won the French national titke in the Minime category in 2000.

Formula Renault

After karting, Herck moved to the Formula Renault Monza Winter Series in 2003 and competed in the full series the next year. He won the 2004 championship with five wins and 375 points. He also competed in the Belgian and Spanish 1.6-litre series in 2004, winning the latter championship. In

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

he drove in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series for the Comtec Racing team, but failed to score any points.

Formula Three

Herck moved to

Formula Three Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

for 2005, winning the Austrian championship. He also made selected appearances in that year's

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

championships. In 2006 he competed in the

Formula 3 Euro Series The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The ...

with backing from compatriot

Bas Leinders Bas Leinders (born 16 July 1975) is a retired professional racing driver from Belgium. He was a Formula One test and reserve driver in for the Minardi F1 team, taking part in the Friday practice sessions during Grand Prix weekends, making 17 a ...

, scoring twelve points to finish fifteenth in the championship.

GP2 Series

Herck competed in the first eight races of the inaugural

GP2 Asia Series The GP2 Asia Series was a form of open wheel motor racing as a result of a spin-off from the GP2 Series. History The series was officially announced during the weekend of the 2007 Monaco GP2 Series round. GP2 series organiser Bruno Michel com ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

for the

FMS International Fisichella Motor Sport is a motorsport team, founded by Italian Formula One driver Giancarlo Fisichella and his manager Enrico Zanarini. Racing history Euroseries 3000 Fisichella Motor Sport had a team, run by Scuderia Coloni, racing in the ...

team before breaking his wrist in an accident, missing the last round of the season. He was scheduled to drive in the main

GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecc ...

for

as well, but was initially replaced by

Giacomo Ricci Giacomo Ricci (born 30 March 1985 in Baveno) is a former Italian racing driver. Career Formula BMW Ricci began his car racing career by driving in the German-based Formula BMW ADAC series in 2001 and 2002, with a best finish of seventh in the d ...

in the

David Price Racing David Price Racing (commonly referred to as DPR) was a British motor racing team, founded by David Price. The team competed in various forms of motorsport from their foundation in 1976 until 2008. The team was sold in April 2009, but continued ...

team until his wrist healed. After two rounds of the championship, Ricci was dropped in favour of

Andy Soucek Andy Christian Soucek (; born 14 June 1985) is a Spanish- Austrian professional racing driver. Career Soucek was born in Madrid, Spain. His father is an Austrian of Czech descent and his mother is French. He holds dual Austrian and Spanish nati ...

as Herck continued to recover. He finally made his GP2 début at

Magny-Cours Magny-Cours () is a Communes of France, commune in the Nièvre Departments of France, department in central France. It is the home of the ''Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours'', a famous Motorsport#Motor racing, motor racing circuit (whose name is o ...

. He continued with DPR for the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series season, and also the

2009 GP2 Series season The 2009 GP2 Series season was the forty-third season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also fifth season under the GP2 Series moniker. The season consisted of twenty races at ten rounds, beginning on 9 May at the Circui ...

. At the

Autódromo Internacional do Algarve The Algarve International Circuit (), commonly referred to as Portimão Circuit, is a race circuit located in Portimão, Algarve region, Portugal. The development includes a karting track, off-road track, technology park, five-star hotel, sp ...

, Herck finished sixth on the road during the feature race. However, his first GP2 points were stripped from him due to irregularities with his DPR machine. His first points eventually came during the

2009–10 GP2 Asia Series The 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series season was the third season of the GP2 Asia Series. It began on 31 October 2009 and ended on 14 March 2010 after four double-header rounds. Season summary All teams from the 2009 GP2 Series season except for Raci ...

, finishing seventh in the feature race of the second

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

round. After overtaking

Max Chilton Maximilian Alexander Chilton (born 21 April 1991) is a British former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Born and raised in Redhill, Surrey, Chilton is the younger brother of racing driver Tom Chilton. He competed in the GP ...

at the start of the sprint race, Herck was heading to his first podium and victory in the series, but

Davide Valsecchi Davide Valsecchi (born 24 January 1987) is an Italian former racing driver and the 2012 GP2 Series season, 2012 GP2 Series champion. Career Formula Renault Valsecchi drove in Renault-based series from 2003 to 2007, rising from Italian Formula Re ...

passed him just before the race's conclusion. Herck ultimately finished thirteenth in the championship standings. Herck continued his improved form in the 2010 main series, finishing in the points on a number of occasions. He also qualified on

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

for his "home" race in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, but lost it due to an infringement. He finished sixteenth in the drivers' championship. Following the withdrawal of DPR from GP2, Herck switched to the Coloni team for 2011. In the

Asia series The Asia Series was an international club baseball competition, contested by the champions of all four professional leagues associated with the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC)—Australian Baseball League (ABL), Chinese Professi ...

, he was partnered variously by

James Jakes James Jakes (born 4 August 1987 in Leeds, West Yorkshire) is a British professional racing driver. Career T-Cars Jakes started his racing career in 2002 competing in 5 rounds of the T-Car Championship. In 2003 James continued in T-cars, ...

and

Luca Filippi Luca Filippi (born 9 August 1985 in Savigliano, Italy) is an Italian former auto racing driver. He competed in GP2 Series from 2006 to 2012, and the IndyCar Series from 2013 to 2016. In 2008 he was the official Honda Racing F1 test driver. Career ...

, and finished eighth in the championship after scoring points in three of the four races. In the main series, he scored only a single point and finished 21st in the standings.

Retirement

Following a disappointing

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

season in the main

, Herck decided not to compete in the 2011 GP2 Final non-championship race in

, and retired from professional motor racing in order to focus on his studies, as later confirmed by adoptive parent André Herck.

Racing record

Career summary

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete GP2 Series results

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Herck, Michael Living people 1988 births Sportspeople from Bucharest Belgian racing drivers Romanian racing drivers Belgian Formula Renault 1.6 drivers Italian Formula Renault 1.6 drivers Italian Formula Renault 2.0 drivers GP2 Series drivers Formula 3 Euro Series drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers GP2 Asia Series drivers Austrian Formula Three Championship drivers Belgian people of Romanian descent World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers David Price Racing drivers Scuderia Coloni drivers Comtec Racing drivers Pons Racing drivers Team Lazarus drivers