At the end of 2016 Robert Kubica had an encouraging test for the ByKolles team, and earlier this year he was announced as one of the teams race drivers in the World Endurance Championship.
However just days before the season is about the begin at Silverstone, the Polish driver said in a statement on social media that he will not be competing in the WEC this year after all.
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.
The ByKolles team are the only privateer squad in LMP1 this year and during the Prologue at Monza were beset by problems, with the team only completing six laps and having to abandon the test early. Although Kubica was there and expecting to drive the car the lack of running meant he didn’t get to drive at all. Following this news, it looks like he never will.
The exact reasons behind his decision to drop out are unclear, but whatever they are I think we can all agree that it’s a massive shame. Although ByKolles’ car wasn’t going to be the quickest thing out there just seeing Kubica back racing in a major championship again would have been awesome – especially at Le Mans. Let’s hope we at least see him out racing something else at some point this year.
