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For the Rallye Deutschland, part of the World Rally Championships, Robert Kubica took fifth place in the WRC category – the best result so far in Polish rallying history. Until now, the previous best Polish WRC win in the history of the World Championships was Krzysztof Hołowczyc's sixth place in the 2009 Rally Poland.

Sport

For the Rallye Deutschland, part of the World Rally Championships, Robert Kubica took fifth place in the WRC category – the best result so far in Polish rallying history. Until now, the previous best Polish WRC win in the history of the World Championships was Krzysztof Hołowczyc's sixth place in the 2009 Rally Poland. With their win,  Robert Kubica and his co-driver, Maciej Baran, both in the LOTOS colours, also earned enough points to become overall leaders in the WRC-2 standings. After the Rallye Deutschland, the press hailed Kubica as 'the Mozart of the rally', because of his fast learning ability and quickly-gained rallying experience – despite still recovering from a bad accident.

Even so, the win was not an easy one, as the Welshman, Elfyn Evans, was hot on his heels the whole way. Kubica had been proving his capabilities from the beginning of the competition on Friday, when he finished first in the WRC-2 and eighth in the WRC. On Saturday, he lost the leading WRC-2 position to Evans for a moment, but snatched it back by the end of the day.

Then, on Sunday's final special stage, Kubica started ahead of Evans. After encountering some difficulties, he crossed the finish line five seconds behind the Welshman, but was still comfortably ahead in the general WRC-2 standings. Ultimately, Kubica climbed to fifth in the general classification of the entire rally, with first place going to Spain's Daniel Sordo. “It was a good rally, even though I wouldn't call it a purely asphalt run, as we were mostly driving through mud,” Kubica commented at the finish control. “The last five kilometres were particularly difficult, because we heard noises in the power unit – we thought possibly the differential or the gearbox had malfunctioned. I lost my focus and overdid it while braking. But either way, we managed to reach the finish line. Victory in the WRC-2 felt good, but the fifth place in the general classification felt even better. This year, my main focus is on gaining experience. Maybe I'll continue competing in rallies, but even if I choose not to, I will still remember this as a good year. I had loads of fun."

Robert admitted that sometimes rallying became difficult, with the car acting up at almost every event – once, for instance, the handbrake failed. Unfortunately, the only Pole in the WRC category, Michał Kościuszko from the LOTOS Rally Team, was unable to complete the rally following a spinal injury sustained during the first special section that required his hospitalisation.

Kubica’s next start will be in the 70th edition of the Rally Poland, in Mikołajki, from September 13th to 15th. Thanks to his participation, this year the number of spectators is bound to be record-breaking.

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