Gillet Ecurie Nationale Belge

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Flag of Belgium svg.png Gillet
Gillet Logo.png
Full Name Gillet Ecurie Nationale Belge
Base Liège, Belgium
Founder(s) Tony Gillet
André Pilette
Team Principal(s) Tony Gillet
Technical Director
Current Drivers #27 - Flag of Belgium svg.png Aurelien Moll
#28 - Flag of the United States svg.png Shane Walsh
Other Noted Drivers Thomas De Bock
Debut 2011 Bavarian Grand Prix
Races 91 (239 entries)
Constructors' Championships 0
Drivers' Championships 0
Race Wins 8
Podiums 22
Points 216
Pole Positions 0
Fastest Laps 1


Gillet-Ecurie Nationale Belge, previously named Equipe de Course Belge and Ecurie de Course Belge is a Belgian racing team founded in 1972 by ex-F1 driver André Pilette to help his son Teddy to get to Formula 1. This goal being acheived in 1974, he set up the definitive Equipe de Course Belge as a successor to Jacques Swaters' Ecurie Nationale Belge, dissolved in the mid-1960's. The team operated in lower divisions for about 40 years before making the step to the Formula 1 Rejects World Race Series in 2011. Notable drivers to have driven for the team include Marc Duez, Eric van de Poele, Bertrand Gachot, Didier Theys, Eric Bachelart, Bas Leinders, Bertrand Baguette, Jérôme d'Ambrosio, Thomas De Bock and Aurelien Moll.

History

Foundation

In 1972, André Pilette's son Teddy was inching closer and closer to Formula 1. André then decided to set up a team himself, with no other intent than to get Teddy to Formula 1. After several starts in non-championship races and a fifth place finish in the British Formula 5000 championship in 1972, Teddy won the British Formula 5000 championship the next year and got a one-off drive for Brabham.

This goal was achieved and with a whole team having been founded, Pilette decided that he would continue operations in lower series, he asked fellow ex-racer Jacques Swaters about setting up a national racing team, as Swaters had done in the mid-50's. The original Ecurie Nationale Belge had folded in the 1960's. Swaters decided to join Pilette, the team being renamed Equipe de Course Belge to avoid confusion with the earlier outfit, the team still racing in national yellow colours.

Slow start

It was quickly decided that the team would only run in lower divisions with young Belgian drivers. The first drivers to benefit from the programme were Patrick Nève, Bernard de Dryver and Pierre Dieudonné, with only the latter not making it to Formula 1, leaving the team in 1980 to concentrate on sports and touring cars.

The Boutsen revelation

André Pilette also owned his own racing school at the time. In 1977, a young driver called Thierry Boutsen won the 'Volant V', and he promptly entered the Equipe de Course Belge in Formula Ford. His rise was meteoric, quickly reaching Formula 2 in 1981, while also competing in the 24h of Le Mans. Boutsen left the team in 1983 after graduating to Formula 1.

Meanwhile, the team had found new promising drivers in the form of Didier Theys, Bertrand Gachot and Eric van de Poele.

The next talents take a different route

While Theys left Europe to go to the United States in 1985, van de Poele stayed at the team and rose through the ranks, although he left the team during the late 80's to concentrate on touring cars only to return in 1989 to drive in F3000. Van de Poele made it to Formula 1 in 1991. Bertrand Gachot took a more linear route, reaching Formula 1 in 1989.

Philippe Adams also made a brief appearance for the team in the early 90's, but left for touring cars after his Formula 1 efforts in 1994.

The long drought and the renaissance

After that, the team had to reduce its operations greatly due to a lack of talented Belgian drivers. The team had to resort to running mediocre drivers in karting, Formula Ford and Formula Renault. In 2001 however, three young drivers, Bertrand Baguette (5th in the provincial championship), Jérôme d'Ambrosio (Belgian Junior Champion) and Aurelien Moll (Double Belgian Junior Champion and French Junior Champion), had shown tremendous talent.

In 2002, d'Ambrosio moved to Formula A, Moll to the World Championships and Baguette to the European Championships, though still racing locally. D'Ambrosio and Moll won their respective championships, with Baguette finishing second in the provincial championship. D'Ambrosio and Moll then made the logical step to single-seaters, with Baguette opting for another season in karting.

2003: Single-seaters again!

However, the two graduates decided to go their different ways, straining the team's budget. While Aurelien moved to Great Britain to compete in Formula Ford, Jérôme stayed in Belgium to compete in the Formula Renault 1.6 championship, while also running a partial Formula König schedule. Baguette, meanwhile, competed in the Belgian, French and European karting championships. Moll and d'Ambrosio both won in their respective championships, with Baguette winning the Belgian title, as well as a race in the European championships. All three drivers moved up in the world.

2004-06: Progress slows

All drivers then ended up in Formula Renault. Moll in Great Britain, d'Ambrosio in the French and European 2.0 divisions and Baguette in the 1.6 division.

For the first time since 2000, ECB did not win a championship all season. Moll finished 7th, d'Ambrosio 4th in France and 16th in Europe and Baguette 3rd. While Moll didn't move for 2005, d'Ambrosio preferred to compete in Italy, with Baguette again following in Jérôme's footsteps, moving to France. Aurelien won the championship, while Jérôme finished fourth again and Bertrand 7th.

This rate of success pushed the team to increase funding, entering Formula 3 for the first time since 1994.

While Moll moved to Formula 3, d'Ambrosio drove in the dying Euroseries 3000 and Baguette stayed in France, concentrating this time on the European 2.0 championship.

In F3, the team had a hard time adjusting to the high level of competition and Moll only finished 12th through consistency. Meanwhile, d'Ambrosio finished 5th in Euroseries 3000 and Baguette took fourth place in the European 2.0 championship.

2007: The team moves up in the world, d'Ambrosio becomes champion

After the failure that was British Formula 3, the team and Moll decided to turn to the World Series by Renault 2.0, with Baguette now driving in the same series in the 3.5 division. d'Ambrosio, meanwhile, competed in the inaugural season of Formula Masters.

While Moll won the most races, his incosistency only allowed to finish in fourth position, while Baguette scored two podiums, but only finished 17th due to the hgih level of competition.

D'Ambrosio, however, seemingly made the right choice, becoming the first Formula Masters champion.

2008: GP2 is too expensive

Of course, only Jérôme actually changed series for 2008. His success entitled him to a GP2 drive, but the team decided that GP2 would be too expensive to run. Jérôme had to be let go, and he was signed by DAMS. Laurens Vanthoor was instead signed up, moving to German Formula 3.

Aurelien finally got his act together in Formula Renault 2.0, finishing second to Giedo van der Garde due to mechanical failures. Bertrand, meanwhile, took his first 3.5 victory at Spa and finished the season in seventh place, while Vanthoor had a good début season in Germany, finishing fourth.

2009: The best by far

Aurelien's performance in 2008 enabled him to get a drive in the 3.5 division alongside Bertrand, while Laurens continued in Formula 3. This would be the team's best season yet.

The car was brilliantly set up for Baguette and Moll, and both fought for the championship. Aurelien scored five podiums including a win at Monaco, but mechanical failures in the middle of the season prevented him from finishing higher than fifth overall, while Bertrand had no such problems, winning five races and the championship.

Vanthoor alo had a brilliant season, winning 11 races out of 18 to take an easy title in German F3.

2010: The talent leaves

However, this meant that Bertrand found a drive in IndyCar, and he was released from the team, although keeping his RACB backing. Aurelien stayed faithful to the team and was its driver of choice for the new series set up as a cheaper alternative to Formula 1, the F1RWRS. However, there was no space on the grid. The team lent Aurelien to Team Rapax for a season of GP2 in 2010, which he won.

Vanthoor finished 6th in Euroseries F3.

F1RWRS

2011: Mixed Beginning

For the 2011 season, the F1RWRS opened to new teams, and ECB was the first to be granted a spot, presenting the ECB JC01, named after Johnny Claes. However, the car was not very successful, the Gilelt engine proving to be slower than expected, and Aurelien failed to pre-qualify for five of the first seven races until the series' unpredictable nature meant that Aurelien not only qualified for the Kent and Tasmanian Grands Prix, but also won them due to an unusual strategy.

Aurelien finished 7th overall, with the team 9th in the constructors' championship. The high cost of operations meant that the team could not run in any junior series, but still provided backing to young drivers. This compromise allowed the team to sign up a second driver for the 2012 season, Thomas De Bock, a Belgian talent and former F1 driver who had not previously driven for the team.

In 2011, Jacques Swaters died and relinquished the rights to the Ecurie Nationale Belge name, team principal Teddy Pilette deciding to adopt the name.

2012: A disappointment, until Bathurst

The renamed ENB team still kept the chassis designation system and the car was called the JC02, with the Gilelt engine still in the back of the car.

However, the JC02 was even slower than its predecessor at the start of the season, and Aurelien scored no points. De Bock seemed to be heading the same way, until the Australian Grand Prix at Bathurst. The race had an incredibly high attrition rate among the frontrunners, and Thomas was able to beat Daniel Martins and Richie White to the win, the team's third. This performance was repeated at the Budweiser 500, Thomas scoring third position. Both drivers were kept for 2013.

2013: The buyout

At the end of the 2012 season, Pilette retired from the team at the age of 70, into a well-deserved retirement. With no one interested in taking over the team, Pilette decided to sell it to Tony Gillet, who renamed it Gillet Ecurie Nationale Belge, also renaming the chassis to ENB113, 1 referring to the series and 13 to the year. Due to the new rules, however, the engine was actually a Judd.

The season turned out to be the team's most successful yet. With the new regulations, unreliability became a problem for every, and Gillet would take advantage. A clear third to Dagnall and Foxdale on pace, the latter turned out to be to fragile to finish a race, leaving De Bock and Moll to pick up the pieces behind Mark Dagnall, who dominated the season.

These pieces turned out to be rather large. De Bock won at Dallas and the Norisring, confirming his talent at street circuits, but the car's urneliability meant he only finished one more race, and he ended up seventh in the championship. Moll was more consistent and reliable, winning the Monaco Grand Prix after De Bock's suspension failure with three laps to go. He also scored four more podiums and took a brilliant second place in the championship, also helping the team to the same place.

2014: Who knows?

With a budget cap enforced, Gillet was one of the two teams to have their budgets slashed, the other being Dagnall. For consistency's sake, the same two drivers were kept, with the ENB114's development being directed to all areas.

This seems to have worked, as Thomas has been in the top 5 for all pre-season test sessions. Things have not gone as well for Aurelien, who has failed to crack the top 10.

Complete F1RWRS results

Year Chassis Engine # Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Points CC
2011 ECB JC01 Gillet G32 V10 BAV GER SAX LUX BEL GBR ENG KEN NED TAS AUS NSW SUR CHN USA 35 9th
22 Flag of Belgium svg.png Aurelien Moll 13 15 DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ 1 12 1 DNS 4 DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ
2012 ENB JC02 Gillet G32 V10 BAV SAX GER LUX BEL NED GBR KEN ENG TAS SUR NSW AUS CHN USA 500 31 9th
17 Flag of Belgium svg.png Aurelien Moll DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ 9* DNPQ 14 DNPQ DNPQ 14 Ret 19 19 DNPQ 12 12 10
18 Flag of Belgium svg.png Thomas De Bock Ret 15 DNPQ Ret Ret DNPQ 13 DNPQ DNPQ Ret 15 18 1 14 16 3
2013 Gillet ENB113 Gillet GV10 TAS AUS MEX USA MON FRA GBR GER NED BEL POR MED MAC CHN JPN BRA 57 2nd
20 Flag of Belgium svg.png Thomas De Bock Ret Ret Ret 1 Ret Ret 4 1 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret
21 Flag of Belgium svg.png Aurelien Moll 3 Ret Ret Ret 1 4 Ret 3 4 15* 3 Ret Ret Ret 2 Ret
2014 Gillet ENB114 Gillet GV10 TAS AUS BRA MEX USA MON FRA GBR GER BEL ITA MED NDS MAC CHN JPN 51 4th
3 Flag of Belgium svg.png Aurelien Moll Ret Ret Ret 3 Ret 3 Ret 2 4 Ret 9 3 8 Ret 2 8
4 Flag of Belgium svg.png Thomas De Bock 6 1 Ret 5 Ret Ret Ret 1 8 Ret Ret 6 Ret Ret Ret Ret
2015 Gillet ENB115 Gillet GV10 TAS AUS MED MON MEX USA CAN GBR GER BEL AUT ITA NDS CHN JPN BRA 27 5th
7 Flag of Belgium svg.png Aurelien Moll 11 12 5 8 6 Ret 5 5 Ret Ret 8 9 5 Ret DNPQ Ret
8 Flag of Belgium svg.png Thomas De Bock 4 5 12 2 4 Ret Ret 11 9 3 Ret 12 9 Ret DNPQ 11
2016 Gillet ENB116 Gillet GV11 AUS NSW GBR ITA AUT CAN SUS NUS GER NED MON BEL MEX ARG CHN JPN 15 8th
7 Flag of Belgium svg.png Thomas De Bock Ret 2 Ret Ret Ret Ret 6 Ret Ret Ret 3 Ret Ret Ret Ret 5
8 Flag of Belgium svg.png Aurelien Moll Ret 7 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 8 11 Ret Ret
2017 Gillet ENB117 Gillet GV11B AUS NSW GBR ITA AUT CAN SUS NUS GER NED MON BEL MOR ARG JPN CHN 0 18th
15 Flag of Belgium svg.png Thomas De Bock DNQ Ret DNPQ
Flag of Belgium svg.png Ron Mignolet DNPQ DNPQ
Flag of Canada svg.png Daniel Moreno DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ
16 Flag of Belgium svg.png Eric Swerts 11 DNQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ
2018 Gillet ENB118 Gillet GV12 AUS NSW ITA MOR CAL USA CAN GBR AUT GER SCA BEL MON RSA BRA ARG JPN CHN 0* 17th*
27 Flag of Belgium svg.png Aurelien Moll DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ 11 11 DNPQ Ret Ret DNPQ Ret
28 Flag of the United States svg.png Shane Walsh DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ Ret Ret DNPQ Ret 8 DNPQ Ret


ARWS Constructors
2019 Season ARWS Constructors
Aeroracing Blokkmonsta Euromotor Fusion Gillet ENB Jones Kamaha Kjellerup Lomas
Mecha MRT Nurminen Simpson USD Venturi Voeckler Vincent
Former ARWS Constructors
Acuri - AMR - ARC - ArrowTech - Autodynamics - Bangelia - Boxtel - Calinetic - CR - DGNgineering - Dofasco - FAT - Flying Fish - Foxdale - Gauthier - Hemogoblin - HRT - Horizon
IBR - JLD - Kingfisher - KQ - Lotus - MAN - Minardi - Mitie - Pacchia - Phoenix - Prospec - Revolution - Rosenforth - SOTL - Sunshine - Tassie - Tropico - Trueba - Virgin - West Cliff - ZimSport
  • † Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.