For a career that was halted so drastically in February 2011, in a severe rally accident that almost changed his quality of life when it came to racing and life in general, Robert Kubica returns to the track at Valencia tomorrow to ascertain his fitness, as well as seeing how his skills are after extensive surgeries and physical rehabilitation.
This test will be the 28-year-old’s first circuit outing since his accident, but his preparation in several rallies during the last few months to help him get back up to speed will have kept his skills fresh for the challenge, and is looking to see how he performs behind the wheel of a race car with a high downforce configuration.
His career in single-seater racing has been helped primarily by Mercedes-Benz, as the Polish driver drove in the F3 EuroSeries for Mücke Motorsport during the 2004 season, with the Stuttgart engine in his Dallara helping him to three podiums and a total of 53 points.
He may be looking to get back into Formula One in the near future, but he is clearly not 100% fit, and with the help of Mercedes, he is looking forward, rather than dwelling on the past, even though it has had an impact on the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix winner: “I’m really pleased that Mercedes-Benz is giving me the opportunity to test their DTM car and I’m looking forward to getting acclimatised to a race car again.
“It will be in proper testing conditions, on a permanent circuit, and it’s important because the DTM Mercedes AMG C- Coupé has good levels of downforce. It’s still too early to make any statements about my future because of this one test. I’m just looking forward to tomorrow and we’ll see what happens after that.”
New Head of Motorsport for Mercedes-Benz, Toto Wolff, informed reporters on Tuesday that HWA would be fielding a car for Kubica for the test, and that all at Stuttgart are excited. So another interesting development comes DTM’s way for 2013, as Kubica will soon reveal what his next move will be. Will it be rallying, or will the DTM have another welcome addition? We can only hope for the best, come what may….
