Michael Herck (born 4 August 1988 in Bucharest, Romania) is a Romanian-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, and began his racing career in karting in France where he won the French national title 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, Herck 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 for 2005, winning the Austrian championship. He also made selected appearances in that year's British and German championships. In 2006, he competed in the Formula 3 Euro Series with backing from compatriot Bas Leinders, scoring twelve points to finish fifteenth in the championship.
GP2 Series
Herck competed in the first eight races of the inaugural GP2 Asia Series in 2008 for the FMS International team before breaking his wrist in an accident, missing the last round of the season.
Herck was scheduled to drive in the main GP2 Series for 2008 as well, but was initially replaced by Giacomo Ricci in the David Price Racing team until his wrist healed. After two rounds of the championship, Ricci was dropped in favour of Andy Soucek as Herck continued to recover. He finally made his GP2 début at Magny-Cours. He continued with DPR for the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series season, and also the 2009 GP2 Series season. At the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, 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, finishing seventh in the feature race of the second Abu Dhabi round. After overtaking Max Chilton at the start of the sprint race, Herck was heading to his first podium and victory in the series, but Davide Valsecchi 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 for his "home" race in Belgium, 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, he was partnered variously by James Jakes and Luca Filippi, 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 season in the main GP2 Series, Herck decided not to compete in the 2011 GP2 Final non-championship race in Abu Dhabi, 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 Season Series Team Races Poles Wins Points Position 2003 Formula Renault Monza Winter Series Dynamic Engineering 2 0 0 18 8th 2004 Formula Renault Monza Dynamic Engineering 16 3 5 375 1st Formula Junior 1600 Spain ? 9 6 4 119 1st Formula Renault 1600 Belgium ? 4 0 1 65 11th 2005 Austrian Formula Three Championship Junior Racing Team 7 6 3 75 1st British Formula 3 5 0 0 0 NC Formula Renault 2.0 Italia 0 0 0 0 NC Recaro Formel 3 Cup Jama Investments 3 1 0 0 NC 2006 Formula 3 Euro Series Bas Leinders Junior Racing Team 19 0 0 12 15th British Formula 3 2 0 0 0 NC Masters of Formula Three 1 0 0 N/A 13th 2007 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Comtec Racing 14 0 0 0 NC Formula 3 Euro Series Bas Leinders Junior Racing Team 2 0 0 0 NC 2008 GP2 Asia Series FMS International 8 0 0 0 23rd GP2 Series DPR 13 0 0 0 30th 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series David Price Racing 11 0 0 0 33rd 2009 GP2 Series DPR 19 0 0 0 23rd Formula Renault 3.5 Series Interwetten.com 6 0 0 7 23rd 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series David Price Racing 8 0 0 7 13th 2010 GP2 Series DPR 20 0 0 12 16th 2011 GP2 Asia Series Scuderia Coloni 4 0 0 9 8th GP2 Series Scuderia Coloni 18 0 0 1 21st
Complete Formula Renault 2.0 Italia results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pos Points 2005 Junior Racing Team VLL1 VLL2IMO1IMO2SPA1SPA2MNZ11MNZ12MNZ13MUG1MUG2MIS1MIS2MIS3VARMNZ21MNZ22 NC 0
Complete ATS Formel 3 Cup results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Points 2005 Junior Racing Team Dallara F305 Opel OSC11 OSC12HOC1HOC2SAC1SAC2LAU11LAU12 NÜR11 NÜR12NÜR21NÜR22ASS1ASS2LAU21LAU22OSC21OSC22 NC 0
Complete British Formula Three Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Pos Points 2005 Junior Racing Dallara F305 OpelDON1DON2 SPA1 SPA2CRO1CRO2KNO1KNO2THR1THR2CAS1CAS2MNZ1MNZ2MNZ3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 NÜR1 NÜR2MON1MON2SIL1SIL2 NC 0
Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pos Points 2006 Bas Leinders Junior Racing Team Dallara F306 Mercedes HOC11 HOC12 LAU1 LAU2 OSC1 OSC2 BRH1 BRH2 NOR1 NOR2 NÜR1 NÜR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 CAT1 CAT2 LMS1 LMS2 HOC21 HOC22 15th 12 2007 Bas Leinders Junior Racing Team Dallara F306 Mercedes HOC11 HOC12BRH1BRH2NOR1NOR2MAG1MAG2MUG1MUG2ZAN1ZAN2NÜR1NÜR2CAT1CAT2NOG1NOG2HOC21HOC22 24th 0
Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pos Points 2007 Red Devil Team Comtec MNZ1 MNZ2 NÜR1 NÜR2 MON1 HUN1 HUN2 SPA1 SPA2 DON1 DON2 MAG1 MAG2 EST1 EST2 CAT1 CAT2 31st 0 2009 Interwetten.com Racing CAT1 CAT2 SPA1 SPA2 MON1 HUN1 HUN2 SIL1 SIL2 BUG1 BUG2 ALG1 ALG2 NÜR1 NÜR2 ALC1 ALC2 23rd 7 2011 Pons Racing ALC1 ALC2 SPA1 SPA2 MNZ1 MNZ2 MON1 NÜR1 NÜR2 HUN1 HUN2 SIL1 SIL2 LEC1 LEC2 CAT1 CAT2 36th 0
Complete GP2 Series results Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pos Points 2008 DPR CATFEA CATSPR ISTFEA ISTSPR MONFEA MONSPR MAGFEA MAGSPR SILFEA SILSPR HOCFEA HOCSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR VALFEA VALSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR 30th 0 2009 DPR CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA MONSPR ISTFEA ISTSPR SILFEA SILSPR NÜRFEA NÜRSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR VALFEA VALSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR ALGFEA ALGSPR 23rd 0 2010 DPR CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA MONSPR ISTFEA ISTSPR VALFEA VALSPR SILFEA SILSPR HOCFEA HOCSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR YMCFEA YMCSPR 16th 12 2011 Scuderia Coloni ISTFEA ISTSPR CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA MONSPR VALFEA VALSPR SILFEA SILSPR NÜRFEA NÜRSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR 21st 1
Complete GP2 Asia Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points 2008 FMS International DUB1FEA DUB1SPR SENFEA SENSPR SEPFEA SEPSPR BHRFEA BHRSPR DUB2FEA DUB2SPR 23rd 0 2008–09 David Price Racing SHIFEA SHISPR DUBFEA DUBSPR BHR1FEA BHR1SPR LSLFEA LSLSPR SEPFEA SEPSPR BHR2FEA BHR2SPR 33rd 0 2009–10 David Price Racing YMC1FEA YMC1SPR YMC2FEA YMC2SPR BHR1FEA BHR1SPR BHR2FEA BHR2SPR 13th 7 2011 Scuderia Coloni YMCFEA YMCSPR IMOFEA IMOSPR 8th 9
References
External links Official website