Robert Kubica, who has been out of action for 18 months since his rallying accident in Italy, early last year, spent four days recently at a secret test at a little known circuit in France – at the wheel of a Ford WRC car.
The Polish driver tested a Ford Fiesta WRC on the Circuit des Ecuyers, which is located close to the town of Château-Thierry. He was working alongside Petter Solberg et Jari-Matti Latvala, the two Ford factory drivers in the WRC and he has been described only as “a mystery driver, who did not wish to have any publicity about the relationship”.
Kubica paid his own expenses and worked for free and according to the team his feedback was interesting. The team said that he did not know whether he would be able to do the job, but things went well.
The circuit is slightly over two miles in length and very twisty, which makes it useful for tarmac rally testing. It was opened in 2007.
At least!! So good to hear about some movement and action on Kubica’s part
This has made my day reading this! I wish Robert all the best for a successful return to motorsport!
Hm … good to see he is getting back closer to racing a car!
So in order for Robert to test his fitness and ability, he chooses to take part in the very type of motor racing that got him into this mess in the first place. Seriously, with all due respect, Robert needs a new advisor.
some would say getting up where you fell is the mark of a true champion.
… and some wouldn’t
…and what would you say if his injuries had come from falling down the stairs? Elevators only for the rest of his life? What about if he had been injured in an F1 car? Come on…
He got in trouble due to faulty armco. The accident might have been mitigated if the car some some strengthening at the firewall. This test was on a race course in a full WRC car which is much stronger then then Skoda Fabia S2000 he was driving when he was injured.
His accident was also a fluke. If a random, even if serious, accident scares you off you probably won’t make a good race car driver.
It was not such a fluke. In the recent IRC Targa Florio-Rally Internazionale di Sicilia, co-driver Gareth Roberts was killed in a very similar accident when the barriers went through the engine compartment into the safety cell.
Sounds like a problem caused by whoever is doing the barriers…
They are normal roadside barriers.
For a normal road and normal driving. Sounds like rally organisers should be thinking more carefully about what the equipment is designed for.
Depends, rally driving is not the same as motor racing. Barriers are useful but they cannot barrier everything. Where do organisers draw the line?
I agree there. Given those accidents, organizers should be placing tires or something at the ends of guardrails.
Also, municipal governments should realize the danger as well, and fit these ends (“ET 2000″) to each guardrail to prevent similar accidents that could happen to people on the road.
http://tti.tamu.edu/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/v47n3et2000.jpg
All good points team I’m meerly indicating perhaps the need for risk-minimisation here. Obviously Malcolm anything has an inherent risk but this can be limited. If Kubica has given up on Formula 1 and wants to pursue a rally career then all power to him. The bottom line I think is that with the ultimate goal being to attain a Ferrari drive, something that appears to have been very much on the cards, it would be absolute lunacy if he was injured again in some innocuous accident driving a rally car. Cheers for the replys team.
Good for Robert.
F1 needs Robert Kubica back. Imagine how much more of an interesting season this could have been. Imagine if he were in Massa’s place battling it out with Alonso as originally rumored before his accident.
Kubica represented that rare driver like an Alonso, that given a sniff of opportunity through consistency and rare error could make something happen on track rather than a large proportion of drivers which have the machinery and opportunities but seem to find a way to mess it up.
The sport needs more like him as when you see them closing in others its superior viewing watching them battle rather than two cars quickly being shunted out of the race through a botched maneuver.
Rally courses are extremely dangerous and lack the safety standards of F1. Robert may have had a fall sense of invincability coming from the relative safety of F1 took his chances on open roads and we all lost as he seemed to be hitting his prime when devasted by the crash. We need our competant Antagonists.
I don’t think he’s coming back to Formula 1. Several teams have made it known that if he wants to return, they will make one of their cars available for testing. Why, when those cars that are much more representative of open-wheel racing, would Kubica choose to test a Fiesta WRC at his own expense?
I suspect he knows a return to Formula 1 is not possible, but a second career in rallying is.
No sources. No one have mentioned Kubica’s name.
It could just as well have been Stephane Sarrazin…
But it wasn’t.
Ole, Joe IS a source.
I hope he makes a full recovery, it would be great to see him back in action in some form of professional racing.
Interesting, a small step for an ex F1 driver to prove he still has the spatial awareness and reaction time necessary in a rally car. BUT a long way from an F1 situation where the full use of both hands is necessary and the G force somewhat different.
Though, thinking on, if he were to return and be preferred over the long list of current test/reserve drivers, then it would presumably be possible to build a steering wheel suited to his available hand movements/strengths, so that should not be a problem. But someone is going to need him badly to go to that extra expense.
If nothing else, this test proves he has not lost his nerve (we used to say that drivers had their brains taken out before going on track, but this nowadays has fallen into the same disuse as the “Jesus pedal” )
The same F1 spatial and awareness which served Kimi so well in WRC then?
This is just a rumour. He supposedly had a ‘secret’ test last March. It turned out that it was another driver, with the initials RK on the side of the car. Also, when Latvala was supposedly there, he was also in Germany! Reports show that Kubica cannot used his elbow. He may be able to drive a normal road car, and that is good, but running a WRC car at racing speeds, I doubt it.
Its funny how rumours get started. How did this one start, and by whom?
I think you will find that journalists are often smarter than you think.
Just because this is the internet, that doesn’t mean everything on it is bogus. A good journalist knows who to trust re: passing along news vs. spreading rubbish. It’s a big part of the job, and is one reason it’s hard to be good at the job without paying one’s dues over time.
I think that he is probably not going to get back into F1 in the near future, there are too many young and upcoming talents in the available driver field, plus he will have ‘special needs’ that will need to be addressed.
Good for his own sake that he is looking at driving again.
Inclined to agree, rallying or tin tops would be a better fit if his motor issues are as bad as reported. Alex Zanardi did well in his hand-controlled BMW WTCC car, after all. I know he lost his legs and not his arm movement, but it shows there are ways round such issues.
this story was reported by L’Avenir on Saturday. Why don’t you give the source?????
Because it has been reported all over the place, if you look at the French newspapers
I don’t think there is a fraction of a chance for Kubica to return to F1. I don’t think he ever could nor I think he ever would.
I’d like t see him in WRC or WTCC or something else, maybe even WEC. Probably he still has the edge to be competitive on international level, but it’s definitely not F1.
And you’ve come to this conclusion based on…?
He’d reportedly be unable to move his injured hand precisely in such a tight environment as an F1 cockpit.
This move is probably Robert’s acknowledgment that F1 is over. Here’s hoping he can find another outlet for his talents and unfulfilled ambitions, as long as he can physically meet the challenges.
now this is good news, seriously, i hope he’s gonna make it, f1 is not the same without Robert, good luck to him
Can’t help thinking his F1 boat has sailed… Really shouldn’t have been messing about in rally cars (in which he was not as competent) instead of staying with F1… silly boy.
Life cannot be lived by “what ifs” though or we would never do anything with an element of risk. Robert presumably enjoyed rallying otherwise he wouldn’t have got into the car, I doubt he did it for the money.
It was his choice, end of story. And I don’t think you are entitled to tell him otherwise either.
Oh give over. Just look at the crash he had at Montreal in 2007. Yes, he walked away from it then, but he was very very lucky to- the HANS saved him.
Yeah, but the difference between his Montreal crash and his rally crash is that his elbow wasn’t torn apart in the Montreal accident. Kubica’s return is in doubt because if his elbow doesn’t heal properly, he won’t have a full range of movements in his arm. And if he doesn’t have a full range of movements in his arm, he won’t be able to drive a Formula 1 car.
Because of the tight confines of the cockpit, a driver is literally pinned into a Formula 1 car. As a result, he mostly steers with his wrists and elbows. But because there are no such restrictions in a World Rally Car, the driver is free to use his shoulders. There is less stress on the elbows, so even if Kubica’s arm doesn’t heal perfectly, he will still be able to drive a World Rally Car competitively.
Robert is probably not as worried about returning to F1 as F1 fans seem to think. Many people follow other categories of Motorsport with no interest in F1. The belief that F1 drivers are simply the best drivers in the world period! just took a massive hit as Barachello coasts around the midfeild and lobbys for Rookie status in Cart after 300 odd gp’s (Sato & Wilson have also not done much).
Yes it’s a disappointment and he may have unfinished F1 business but if he could work up to WRC and be competetive he could be very happy. After all he was rallying with serious passion to begin with.
Now what he’ll do to replace the private jets and modeling of Bernie Ecclestone’s daughters ‘designer clothes’ on Monaco catwalks, well he’ll just have to be strong and work through that ‘day by day’ as we all know how much of a void that will leave in his life. Maybe Kimi could offer moral support.
On a serious note the Rally community needs a severe safety overhaul as the Welsh co-driver Joe mentioned died as well as an Italian Driver – co-driver duo that got trapped and burned to death in an overturned car.(Kubica apparently attended the funeral) For a driver that pushes limits as hard as Kubica he needs to be in an F1 safety tub surrounded by state of the art tracks with safety features not on open roads with dangerous surroundings. Robert better dial down his approach in Rally after the awakening he got, I pity his poor parents.
“The belief that F1 drivers are simply the best drivers in the world period! just took a massive hit as Barachello coasts around the midfeild and lobbys for Rookie status in Cart after 300 odd gp’s (Sato & Wilson have also not done much).”
Very true, but Sato and Wilson achieved little in their F1 days, and Rubinho was a happy patsy at Ferrari though gave a good account of himself at Brawn. We should not forget that the Burger King himself, Juan Pablo Montoya, was little more than a flash in the pan in F1 though he destroyed the Cart field. Swings and roundabouts.
Flash in the pan…maybe – but I sure liked the way he didn’t take s**t from MS.
Andre’ driving a rally car is Kubica’s love that’s why he does it and it made him even a greater driver! and think about it, Robert doesnt tell you that you are a silly boy because you do what you love to do
fingers crossed because that kind of news happens only once a blue moon 
and lastly driver accidents happen especially in motorsports look at poor Villota..
I can understand you frustration it’s terrible to see a great talent like his go to waste but it’s no use crying over spilt milk! Robert has to do his best with what he’s got now!
I still believe he is fighting for a F1 comeback
Thanks Joe. Good to hear something about Kubica.
Just curious but in your opinion Joe do you think we’ll ever see Kubica racing again in F1?
No
L’Avenir aside, can you tell me the name of the French newspaper you read this in?
No. I’m not wasting my time justifying stories. Take it or leave it!
Never say never, robert could be in F1 if his fitness allows. I dont think lotus have totally given up yet but the show must go on. People talk about his injuries and right him off, are they doctors and specialists, no they are not. Until robert says that he cannot perform the task, then it is well and trully over. He is not testing a wrc rally car for nothing, he has to do it for himself first to see where his marker point is…….and gauge his future….
I do not think you have a clear picture of the feeling in F1.
Joe why do you put such a final decision for Robert Kubica and his future?
Because I do not believe that he can come back. If this had happened a year ago I would have thought it possible, but there are clearly problems.
It is being reported that the person testing the Fiesta, was in fact Marcus Gronholm. So it appears that journalists do in fact get somethings wrong. If it was Gronholm, then reporting that it was Kubica, was cruel.
Has Kubica denied it?
Gronholm left the hospital on 7th July. Those tests were reportedly done between 2nd and 5th July. How would it be possible??
Okay, but if it’s your private thoughts that you have messages from the environment Kubica?
Your articles are great. DK80.
It is very sad then
I don’t disagree
I am puzzled by your response. A rumour was started and spread, which now appears to be untrue. Atkinson says it was Gronholm. And your response is “has Kubica denied it”. As Robert has remained silent through his entire rehabilitation, I doubt that he would make any comment on such a rumour. I would ask you …has Kubica confirmed it?
That is not the point. He will not confirm it if he wishes it to be kept quiet, but if it was not him it would be normal for him to deny it. In any case, believe what you want. I do what I think is right and I do it for nothing and so if you don’t like it, don’t read it. Easy.
Even Autosport is reporting the story. Where did you hear it was untrue?
A polish friend of mine told me last week that he was watching an interview in Polish with Kubica’s manager (who I think is Italian, so maybe the video had a voiceover translation or was subtitled into Polish). Anyway, he quoted some of the manager’s answers to me, the gist of which is that if Kubica _can_ return to professional driving then it will be rally, and not F1. He explained this as being because of the driving position and – quite literally – the elbow room.
not true, there is no such interview with Daniele Morelli
To me, this was an encouraging rumor, one that I hoped was true, until I read in this column. Now, it’s real to me.
If it was, in fact, a rumor, I have full confidence that it would have been reported as such in this column. It was not.
maybe your right joe