F1 Kubica 'seriously injured' in rally crash

[Gullwing]

Kubica - 'I can't drive a single seater'


http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/95476.html

 

[Centurion]

This guy is immortal. It strengthens me to read about him winning races. Sadly the requirements of an F1 driver are exceptionally tough and Kubica's recovery to become an F1 driver isn't going fast enough. He could possibly make a decent career as a DTM driver.

 

[Deleted member 25]

I like him very much and respect him as a capable driver but he can only blame him self and Morelli.

 

[Centurion]

There is no-one to blame. Rallying takes place on open circuits and is thus inherently dangerous. However it is baffling that he is continuing to drive rally cars, but it shows that he isn't bitter and have decided to resume his passion.

 

[Deleted member 25]

No when you drive for F1 team, there's simply no such thing as rally driving, BMW made that very clear, lotus didn't and you see where that ended. F1 teams are gigantic, the amount of money and jobs involved is too big for a driver risking it with fantaisies like rallying.

 

[Bartek S.]

He will test Mercedes DTM on Jan. 24-th.

 

[Bartek S.]

114 laps in Valencia, time 30 sec. faster then Gary Paffett.

 

[Bartek S.]

Robert Kubica would 'give all his money' to return to Formula 1

Citroen driver Robert Kubica has admitted he would "give all his money" to return to Formula 1 racing.
Kubica has been out of grand prix racing since his rally crash in February of 2011.

The Pole announced details of his first full season of rallying in Warsaw on Thursday, revealing a four-round European Rally Championship effort to accompany his WRC2 programme, but he says his focus remains on getting back to F1.

He revealed he turned down the chance to race in the DTM because he knew rallying would provide a bigger physical challenge to him.

Kubica reckons he is ready to race in F1 at circuits like Barcelona, but feels he would not be able to compete at more twisty tracks.

"I would pay all the money I have to be back in the cockpit of a Formula 1 car," said Kubica. "At the moment [racing at] Barcelona would be possible, Monaco would not be possible.

"I would prefer to still be an F1 driver, but if I really saw myself one and a half years ago, and somebody told me I would be announcing a big programme with [ERC sponsor] Lotos, Citroen and Michelin in the European Rally Championship and in the WRC, I would not have believed it.

"I still hope to come back to where I was. I think everybody would like to see me there.

"It's a bit strange, even some people from rallying would prefer I stay in rallying, but I'm coming from Formula 1 and suddenly what was all my life stopped in one second.

"Now I know, I knew it always, but now I appreciate more that there's nothing better in life than doing what you want to do."

Kubica tested a Mercedes DTM car earlier this year before committing to the ERC and WRC2 with Citroen.

If Citroen's planned World Tyouring Car Championship programme for 2014 is signed off, it is expected Kubica will play a part in the testing programme, but for now he says that is all he is interested in from the series.

"DTM was a good opportunity for me," he said. "But somehow my way of looking [at] what I want this year... I think is the best for me led me to decide for rallying. I would definitely have an easier life [in the DTM] and better chances of good results, but for me results are not the numbers.

"For me what I am looking for this year is to improve my physical state, improve me as a driver and I hope I will learn a lot of new things thanks to the rallying. Maybe this will be the key for the future."

autosport.

 

[Bartek S.]

 

[Bartek S.]

ERC Canaries: Robert Kubica tops shakedown

Citroen driver Robert Kubica has set the fastest time in this morning's Canaries Rally shakedown stage.
Kubica posted a time of 1m26.5s for the stage, with two-time event winner Jan Kopecky listed as six tenths of a second slower than the former grand prix winner.
The Polish driver tested his Citroen DS3 RRC in Gran Canaria on Monday and spent the morning finetuning the set-up of his car ahead of this evening's ceremonial start.
The Las Palmas-based event marks the former grand prix winner's return to international motorsport after he injured his right arm in a rally crash in February, 2011.
After his two-day pre-event test was cut to a morning after storms hit France last week, Kubica completed around 40 miles of running on Monday.
He spent more time in the car at shakedown, where he was reported to be just half a second off the pace of two-time Canaries winner Jan Kopecky.
Kubica's engineer Kevin Struyf said: "We are still discovering the car and the driving style for Robert. We made a good test on Monday and today we are making some set-up changes because this road is more like the road we find on the rally."
Struyf explained the way Kubica wanted his Citroen running for the Spanish island event, saying: "Robert wants absolutely no oversteer from the car.
"He is OK with understeer, but no oversteer because he lacks the confidence at the moment. We are making a neutral car for him.
"The feedback he is giving for the car and for the team is very, very good - this is what we expect because of his experience from the race track."

http://www.autosport

 

[Bartek S.]

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Stage 1

1. Kubica 01:29:32.0
2. Kopecky 01:30:38.7 +01:06.7
3. Breen 01:31:23.0 +01:51.0
4. Ancian 01:32:15.8 +02:43.8
5. Monzon 01:33:08.2 +03:36.2
6. Aigner 01:34.22.3 +04:50.3
7. Garcia 01:35.33.8 +06:01.8
8. Bonnefis 01:35.49.4 +06:17.5
9. Vinyes 01:36.11.5 +06:39.5
10.Antxustegi 01:36.12.1 +06:40.1

 

[Bartek S.]

Stage 2

Ups... the end.

 

[Bartek S.]

Kubica not interested in racing return unless it is in Formula 1

Robert Kubica says he has no interest in a full-time return to racing in anything other than Formula 1 right now.

Although the Pole was offered a DTM seatwith Mercedes for this year, he has elected to concentrate on rallying so he can build his fitness back up.

In an exclusive interview with AUTOSPORT speaking about his ongoing recovery, Kubica made it clear that as long as he believed he could return to F1 then he does not want to commit himself to any other racing category.

"For me, now, the priority is to get as fit as I can," said Kubica, who confirmed to AUTOSPORT last week that he had been in the Mercedes F1 simulator.

"I'm not able to come back into single-seaters at the moment, and my vision is not to come back in saloon cars on the circuit at this stage."

He added: "DTM, for me, is one of the highest-level championships in the world, the drivers who are racing there; I'd say there's a minimum of 10 who can win races. It's a very high-level championship.

"It's not that I'm underrating these cars, or GTs or anything else, it's just that I have something in my mind and I'm trying everything to achieve it, and this is the best way for me.

"Maybe one day in the future I will race in DTM or GT or whatever, because I will feel that it's the right moment. I'm still young, I think I can still achieve something in motorsport, I will try my best."

Although Kubica concedes there is no certainty he will ever be fit enough to race in F1 again, he also says it cannot be ruled out yet either.

There is not any guarantee, there is no percentage to say whether I will come back or not, but it's also not 100 per cent that I will not be back in F1. I will try my best," he said.
"I have been through a difficult period, and I'd say it's an easier period now, I am enjoying myself, but it is still not a totally easy period for me, because I'd definitely prefer to be in F1 driving, 100 per cent fit. The reality is different.

"Now I need a little bit of everything - a little bit of luck and motivation, which I think I have, and to keep working so maybe I have the chance to get back to where I was before the accident."

http://www.autosport

 

[Bartek S.]