Kubica to return to racing .....

[7ka]

Great news!

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2016/09/15/k ... lt-series/

[BeardedAce]

Great News indeed.

[Henne]

Anyone who actually knows how good/bad that hand motion is now after 5 years?

Apparently his hand still limits him, but if you can drive a rally car, surely he should be able to more track racing ? This is his first track race since the accident...

[7ka]

This is not first race ... He was on the race with Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 and Lamborghini.

Robert worked hard https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--Tu9JRAupRo/ ... 600/RO.jpg

[woohoo]

Its great news alright
I saw his post on facebook, he is apparently not expecting much, coming to the car "cold" with real preparation, but says the car feels great and more like a DTM car.

7ka, is right, Kubica raced a Mercedes SLS before, at Mugello. He was doing well in the race, setting fastest laps, but the team to retire the car halfway through the event.

[7ka]

Today is a trening Live timing http://livetiming.alkamelsystems.com/elms/

Tommorow 15:45 and Sonday 12:00 an Eurosport

[Pat Pending]

Watching the video Woohoo posted I'm left wondering if that car had a fully automatic gearbox, because Kubica's right hand didn't seem to be doing much other than loosely gripping the steering wheel.

[Not that this is a criticism or anything, if you're fast who cares how you do it. I'm just curious over how much use he has now in his right hand]

[rscsr]

Watching the video Woohoo posted I'm left wondering if that car had a fully automatic gearbox, because Kubica's right hand didn't seem to be doing much other than loosely gripping the steering wheel.

[Not that this is a criticism or anything, if you're fast who cares how you do it. I'm just curious over how much use he has now in his right hand]

I have no information, but the WRC cars have a paddle shift system, which you push to shift down and pull to shift up. So he could operate it just with his left hand.

[SectorOne]

It´s really a shame to see what happened. It was such a massive talent that could have done great things in F1.
There´s not many people that blew the doors of Hamilton in a kart but he´s one of them.

[7ka]

This is not automatic gearbox

Sorry im think about Renault.

[Manoah2u]

Yeah it's sad what happened to Robert, it mighy sound harsh, but lets be honest here, he did it all to himself. well, an accident is not fully to yourself,
but though he is severely talented, i can't help but remember he's always been rather 'accident prone' in rallying.
What i don't get is why he took that risk, while he was on his high in F1. He MIGHT have battled for the title that year, instead of rip his arm to shreds.

Apart from that, his achievements afterwards are great, but let's be honest here, there is no way he'll ever compete in F1 or any GP class ever again.
the right hand just doesnt do what it must be able to do, and even if he'd be able to operate the vehicle fully on left hand alone, there's always the problem
of FIA get-out-of-the-car in under xxx seconds. he'll never make that imho. so i'm sorry to say that people shouldnt get their hopes up, Kubica's F1 career
has ended and will not be able to be 'relived'.

i think it would be unwise, too, as he is now remembered for his absolute talent and 'aura' around it, i think it would hurt his legacy and view if he'd personally
want to get back in F1 whatever the cost, as chances are, very high, that he'll completely struggle and get beaten sound by haryanto, ericsson, and stuff like that.
that would give a sour taste on his F1 results, so personally, i think the guy deserves to keep that 'respect' alive, so i'm hoping he'll keep GT-class racing and that's
just it.

[7ka]

Kubica takes podium!

http://www.motorsport.com/gt/news/spa-r ... um-829762/

[Manoah2u]

that's pretty awesome, really!

[ChrisDanger]

Yeah, it is, especially since he said this before the race:

Spa is always interesting. Driving this car is of course a very different experience, but after six years break it was interesting to tackle Eau Rouge again. That compression and steep uphill section, they do make an impression.
We were not driving a lot, because I share my car with the other driver, Christophe. I was doing about eight laps per session but I take it easy. Here, there is not a lots of working on set up and that sort of things. The car balance is not so good. I don't know why but it's not very nice to drive. In the qualifying I should end up somewhere in the middle of the pack. Eight position maybe? That's the realistic goal for us.

In another article he alludes to why a return to racing formula cars will never be an option, unfortunately. Although he does say "there’s a good 90% chance of returning to circuits next season".

“My hand limits me in my day-to-day life, but not necessarily in my racing life. My wrist can’t rotate much, so I need space in the car to compensate with my shoulder. On some circuits, my hand is a problem, on others, it isn’t. In Mugello, I drove a two-hour stint onboard a GT3 without any issues.”

Note: Article links are in quoted name.

[woohoo]

Two articles about Kubica have appeared today:
http://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/kubi ... er-852247/
And:
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/kubi ... e-in-2017/

Would be great it if it happened, but we will have to wait, patently.