Kubica’s Portugal success with revamped team

Robert Kubica has rated last week’s Vodafone Rally de Portugal, when his RK World Rally Team was supported by M-Sport, as one of his best rallies to date.

The Pole’s Ford Fiesta RS WRC had been run by the A-Style team earlier this season, but after growing dissatisfied with the progress he was making, Kubica decided to split with the squad and has re-established links with Malcolm Wilson’s team, with whom he drove in 2014.

He missed XION Rally Argentina to restructure his RK World Rally Team and returned to action in Portugal with a 2015-specification Fiesta. Although finishing ninth wasn’t his best WRC result, the former F1 star still ranks Portugal as one of his best events to date.

“It was definitely one of my best rallies because I felt like I was driving well with everything that we had; the grip level, the balance of the car and everything,” he said. “Maybe the final position is not confirming it but it was a really good weekend from a driving point of view.”

Kubica revealed he had no choice other than to split with A-Style and said he felt comfortable running his Ford Fiesta RS WRC himself in Portugal – albeit with strong support from M-Sport.

When asked about his decision to part with A-Style, Kubica said: “It’s not that I did it because I wanted. The situation came to the place where there were no other options. This car has been built together with the M-Sport guys and we are supported by some M-Sport people.”

Kubica added that his new RK World Rally Team will be based in Italy because of the country’s logistical links with the rest of Europe.