Polish racer Kuba Giermaziak makes the step up to the LMP2 for the full ELMS and Le Mans 24 Hours this season with Greaves Motorsport. From early days in karting and Formula Renault, the 25-year-old carved out a path in GTs, entering ADAC GT Masters and finishing second to 2015 Le Mans winner Earl Bamber when they both contested the Porsche Supercup in 2014. Following Stateside forays, Giermaziak then made his Le Mans debut in the JMW Ferrari last year and is chomping at the bit to get back to La Sarthe in June. We caught up with him at Silverstone as he kicks off what he hopes will be a long career in prototypes…
So how did your first day as a prototype driver go?
“Well, Julien [Canal, his team-mate] went second-fastest in the wet morning practice session, so I think that really shows our strength: we have three very competitive, similar drivers, the team and car are great so it’s all looking good. It was a last-minute deal, but we’d discussed doing something with Greaves before. It came together late, but I’m glad it’s confirmed now and I can focus on driving.”
How do you see the Dunlop-Michelin tyre war playing out in ELMS LMP2 this season?
“I don’t have a lot of experience comparing tyres to be honest. Last year at Le Mans, we were the only Ferrari on Dunlops, in my Porsche and single-seater racing it was always Michelins, so I know their tyres well and I know they’re good. But Dunlop seems competitive, so I don’t think it’ll be a huge deal which rubber you’re on. I heard there was a difference in the rain tyres in previous years, but Friday morning showed that with the new Dunlops, there’s little difference between them, a few tenths at most, which isn’t going to make the difference in four-hour race.”
What route have you taken to get here?
“When I started in karting and Formula Renault, I wasn’t straight away looking at F1, it seemed very far away. But I was always looking to do the next step properly. I was lucky to work with Motorpark early in my career, it’s very experienced team and very good at driver development: my team-mate was Valterri Bottas! In 2011, I did both Porsche Supercup and Formula Three, so I had a clear comparison between the two. That was when I and my management realised there would be much more opportunities in sportscars. So I did GT Masters, more Supercup seasons and started to race Porsches at Daytona, Sebring and other US events. Once I’d done my first endurance race, I really liked it, I forgot about Formula One straight away and Le Mans and other 24-hour races became my goal.”
How important was Robert Kubica’s success in F1 to the wider world of Polish motorsport?
“It was *the* turning point for Polish race drivers, because finally the sport became popular in Poland. It became not easy, but easier, to find sponsors and many Polish people started to see it as a sport for the first time. We only had one racetrack in a country of almost 40 million and it was difficult to for people to understand that driving a car around a track was a sport, something’s that difficult and that you have to practice at!
“Like any sport, the sooner you start the better. When I did karting in Poland, you could start at 10, now we have categories for kids as young as four. We have drivers in GP2 and GP3, then you have me and Jakub Smiechowski in ELMS, so we’re finally going international, winning a national championship doesn’t mean a lot if you only have one track in your country!”
Do you have a plan for the next three to five years? LMP1 must be the ultimate goal?
“That would be fantastic, but there are so few seats. But at the same time I’m pretty sure if you do well at Le Mans, the factories will take notice. I was battling Earl Bamber two years ago in Porsche Supercup for wins and he went straight into LMP1 and won Le Mans. Many people ask why I didn’t go to GTE, as a more natural progression from GT3 and Porsche Supercup cars, but even GTE isn’t a pure racing car. For a driver, if you like driving fast around a track, once you get into a prototype or single-seater, you don’t want anything else. I’m hoping for a good season and then we’ll see what’s next – with ELMS, WEC, IMSA and the Asian Le Mans Series, there are plenty of opportunities to race a prototype these days.”
Obviously you’re looking forward to doing Le Mans again?
“Of course, last year was amazing. Once you’ve got your foot in Le Mans, you don’t want to step back. I hope to do more endurance events this year as well as ELMS, too.”
