interview with kubi
Discussion
nice to see i reckon 
from crash.net...
In a similar mould to world championship leader Kimi Raikkonen, Robert Kubica has revealed he would be keen to try out a rally car once he has hung up his helmet in Formula 1 ? adding that he has had offers to move into off-road competition in the past.
Kubica currently sits third in the drivers' standings in what is still only his second full campaign in the top flight, following second, third and fourth-place finishes in three of the opening grands prix of the season, as well as a sensational maiden pole position in Bahrain. Whilst he confesses to being seduced more by the mud and gravel allure of rallying than the glamorous world of F1, the Polish ace did add that he has too much unfinished business to walk away from the uppermost echelon just yet.
"I would be much happier to have a strong car than to have a not-so-good car and more money or something else" he told international news agency Reuters. "In Formula 1 there is a lot of money and glamour and I really think I would have felt better 30 years ago, with fewer motorhomes and less everything but more racing. I am a big fan of racing.
"I think there's a good possibility [of moving into rallying one day], but there are two ways to do rallying. If I want to do rallying properly as a serious driver, I cannot wait a long time, but first of all I would like to have fun in Formula 1 and achieve something in Formula 1.
The second option is when I stop Formula 1, just to do rallying for fun. I think the second option is more possible."
Kubica is the first of his countrymen to break into grand prix racing, and despite taking the traditional karting/single-seaters route up into F1, it could all have worked out very differently indeed, he admitted.
"There was one moment when I was quite down after one season and I had two offers to go into rallying" he recalled. "I said I would try another year and see, though, because my parents and everybody had made a lot of sacrifices to achieve something in motor racing and in single-seaters. I knew the rally possibilities would still be there in a few years' time.
I like to watch rallies. Every time I go, I park the car where the fans park - I don't have any special tickets or permission to go - and I walk six kilometres.
"The night before, I go through some stages to see where the good points are and how to get to them. I like the system of rallying, and once you find a good place you go there and feel closer to the rally.
Sometimes in Formula 1 the fans are too far away from what is going on the track. If I had to choose and had a week's holiday, I [would] stay at home, but if I am at home and have nothing to do and have a choice, then I go rallying."
Indeed, rallying is the principal form of motorsport in his homeland, and having opted for a different path towards his racing goal, Kubica faced an uphill battle from the start. Born in Poland in 1984 whilst the country was still in the grip of Communist rule, a good many sacrifices were necessary to get him to where he is today, with his father regularly driving him around Europe to race meetings. At the age of just 13 he moved to Italy, and though the going was tough, his persistence and determination would ultimately pay off.
"It was hard for my father [and] hard for me" Kubica reflected. "Going to Portugal took more than two days, so we were losing a lot of time. After that year my father decided I should stay in Italy because it would be easier for me and I would get more driving and testing."
"When I was racing in Europe at the highest level in karting, most of the people in Poland were thinking that I was playing, doing it for fun."
"It was not easy in some ways, but in another way it helped me to get stronger. I am a stronger driver like this than if everything had been easy for me. I think I went through hard moments very easily because I was maybe used to fighting and struggling to achieve something."
Struggling, however, is not something the 23-year-old has been accustomed to thus far in 2008, with BMW-Sauber's F1.08 a genuine contender for regular rostrum finishes and - on the team's day - perhaps even victory. That notwithstanding, Kubica remains adamant the Munich and Hinwil-based outfit still has much work to do if it is to taker the fight to - and beat - F1 pace-setters Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes on a more consistent basis.
"Looking at how the car is running and at the others, we are lacking a bit of speed" he insisted. "We are always very strong in slow corners and slow sectors, so I think we can be stronger at slow tracks like Monaco and Budapest, the kind of tracks where there are no long straights and many corners.
Maybe there we will have some chance, but a lot will depend on how quick we develop compared to the others."
from crash.net...
In a similar mould to world championship leader Kimi Raikkonen, Robert Kubica has revealed he would be keen to try out a rally car once he has hung up his helmet in Formula 1 ? adding that he has had offers to move into off-road competition in the past.
Kubica currently sits third in the drivers' standings in what is still only his second full campaign in the top flight, following second, third and fourth-place finishes in three of the opening grands prix of the season, as well as a sensational maiden pole position in Bahrain. Whilst he confesses to being seduced more by the mud and gravel allure of rallying than the glamorous world of F1, the Polish ace did add that he has too much unfinished business to walk away from the uppermost echelon just yet.
"I would be much happier to have a strong car than to have a not-so-good car and more money or something else" he told international news agency Reuters. "In Formula 1 there is a lot of money and glamour and I really think I would have felt better 30 years ago, with fewer motorhomes and less everything but more racing. I am a big fan of racing.
"I think there's a good possibility [of moving into rallying one day], but there are two ways to do rallying. If I want to do rallying properly as a serious driver, I cannot wait a long time, but first of all I would like to have fun in Formula 1 and achieve something in Formula 1.
The second option is when I stop Formula 1, just to do rallying for fun. I think the second option is more possible."
Kubica is the first of his countrymen to break into grand prix racing, and despite taking the traditional karting/single-seaters route up into F1, it could all have worked out very differently indeed, he admitted.
"There was one moment when I was quite down after one season and I had two offers to go into rallying" he recalled. "I said I would try another year and see, though, because my parents and everybody had made a lot of sacrifices to achieve something in motor racing and in single-seaters. I knew the rally possibilities would still be there in a few years' time.
I like to watch rallies. Every time I go, I park the car where the fans park - I don't have any special tickets or permission to go - and I walk six kilometres.
"The night before, I go through some stages to see where the good points are and how to get to them. I like the system of rallying, and once you find a good place you go there and feel closer to the rally.
Sometimes in Formula 1 the fans are too far away from what is going on the track. If I had to choose and had a week's holiday, I [would] stay at home, but if I am at home and have nothing to do and have a choice, then I go rallying."
Indeed, rallying is the principal form of motorsport in his homeland, and having opted for a different path towards his racing goal, Kubica faced an uphill battle from the start. Born in Poland in 1984 whilst the country was still in the grip of Communist rule, a good many sacrifices were necessary to get him to where he is today, with his father regularly driving him around Europe to race meetings. At the age of just 13 he moved to Italy, and though the going was tough, his persistence and determination would ultimately pay off.
"It was hard for my father [and] hard for me" Kubica reflected. "Going to Portugal took more than two days, so we were losing a lot of time. After that year my father decided I should stay in Italy because it would be easier for me and I would get more driving and testing."
"When I was racing in Europe at the highest level in karting, most of the people in Poland were thinking that I was playing, doing it for fun."
"It was not easy in some ways, but in another way it helped me to get stronger. I am a stronger driver like this than if everything had been easy for me. I think I went through hard moments very easily because I was maybe used to fighting and struggling to achieve something."
Struggling, however, is not something the 23-year-old has been accustomed to thus far in 2008, with BMW-Sauber's F1.08 a genuine contender for regular rostrum finishes and - on the team's day - perhaps even victory. That notwithstanding, Kubica remains adamant the Munich and Hinwil-based outfit still has much work to do if it is to taker the fight to - and beat - F1 pace-setters Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes on a more consistent basis.
"Looking at how the car is running and at the others, we are lacking a bit of speed" he insisted. "We are always very strong in slow corners and slow sectors, so I think we can be stronger at slow tracks like Monaco and Budapest, the kind of tracks where there are no long straights and many corners.
Maybe there we will have some chance, but a lot will depend on how quick we develop compared to the others."
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