Paul Jeffrey
Premium
Robert Kubica has revealed his plans for a 2017 World Endurance campaign and Le Mans 24 Hour drive have hit the skids, leaving the Polish superstar without a drive this season.
In a surprise announcement on the run up to the first round of the 2017 World Endurance Championship at Silverstone, 32 year old Robert Kubica has confirmed he has withdrawn from his WEC drive with the Colin Kolles run ByKolles CLM P1/01 LMP 1 squad.
2017 was to mark the full time return to track action for the former Formula One star Kubica, who's open wheel career was cruelly cut short following a freak accident at the beginning of 2011 when the Polish star crashed his Skoda Fabia on the Ronde di Andora rally and severely damaged his right hand. Kubica's restricted movement after recovering meant it was almost impossible for him to drive a single-seater again.
The former Grand Prix winner has fought admirably to return to full time competitive motorsport action and has for several years now appeared in a variety of WRC and WRC 2 spec rally events, occasionally showing the world his blistering pace and car control, although all too often pushing beyond his and the cars limits and finding himself better acquainted with the stage scenery than he would ideally have liked.
Despite the injury and restriction of movement still suffered by Kubica to this day, the super fast Pole has been embarking on a phased return to circuit racing in recent months, successfully return to the cockpit of a track machine, most notably at the Mugello 12 Hours behind the wheel of a Mercedes AMG GT3 and later securing a podium at Spa in the penultimate round of the highly competitive Renault Sport Trophy Series.
Towards the end of 2016 Kubica impressed many seasoned racing professionals when he straped himself into the cockpit of the ByKolles privateer LMP1 team for the World Endurance Championship season ending rookies test at Bahrain. Kubica would immediately feel at home in the car and went on to lap quicker than team's regular drivers managed during the corresponding race weekend.
Kubica's past achievements and immediate form were not lost on team principle Colin Kolles who was quick to secure the drivers signature to race alongside Britain's Oliver Webb in the Nissan-powered CLM P1/01 LMP1 prototype, with a full time drive in the 2017 WEC secured alongside a debut in this years 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in June.
Unfortunately problems hampered the ByKolles outfit throughout the WEC prologue event and Kubica found himself unable to have the opportunity to sample the car again before the racing action is due to begin at Silverstone for round 1 on Sunday 16th April. With these problems behind him, it appears as though Kubica has decided the timing is right to call an end to his track comeback and give the team the opportunity to fill the second driver role alongside Webb before the first round begins in a few days time.
Speaking from a post on his Facebook profile, Kubica confirmed all plans for this season have been withdrawn with immediate effect:
"After the Prologue, I have decided to interrupt my racing program with the ByKolles team in LMP1. Therefore, I will not take part in the upcoming WEC Silverstone opening round and in the other WEC races. It has been a hard decision to step down and so lose the opportunity to join such a challenging and competitive Championship, but I hope this will not be a definitive goodbye.
Robert"
How this surprise announcement will effect preparations from the ByKolles team remain to be seen. With only Webb signed up for the new season, it leaves the squad in an uncertain position with only 3 days to go before practice begins at Silverstone. Following the shock withdrawal of Audi at the end of 2016 and several driver changes during the off season there in no shortage of talented drivers available to step into the seat at short notice, so hope remains that ByKolles will be able to make the grid on time and prop up what is looking to be one of the smallest LMP1 grids in recent seasons.Robert"
As for Kubica himself, the driver claims his stepping down from the drive is not the final chapter in his track racing career, and his plan still remains to return to the circuit in a full time capacity in the near future. However with obvious uncertainty surrounding his substantial past injury, and a lack of any concrete reason as to why he is giving up the reigns at ByKolles, it will be an interesting few months as fans await news of the next move from a man Lewis Hamilton once reportedly confided to be the only driver he fears racing against on outright race pace.
I hope this isn't the last we see of Kubica on a race track in a major championship, as a driver of his undoubted speed deserves far more from a career than he has currently managed to achieve.
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