“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.
