The air is heavy with nostalgia in this strangely uncrowded room at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza where a small group of journalists has formed around Robert Kubica. Although he talks freely, the tone betrays quite bleak fatalism. The Polish driver has been waiting for, and fearing, this weekend for a long time. Since February 2011 when his life was turned upside down. Following his serious rallying accident and the ensuing period of convalescence, he competed in the WRC for several seasons to forget about his shattered Formula One career. Circuits were the last thing he wanted to hear of until last year when he drove a Renault RS01 at Francorchamps. ByKolles team boss Colin Kolles then offered him a trial in the team’s LM P1 prototype in the end-of-season WEC rookie tests in Bahrain. After much hesitation, Kubica accepted.

“Colin has been trying to get me in his car for some time, but I wasn’t sure I could drive it,” he confesses. “I didn’t want to try something I didn’t think I’d be capable of driving. I was afraid of another disappointment!”

What the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix winner dreaded was not having enough room in the cockpit. He also feared dredging up memories from the past on seeing familiar faces.

“I stayed away from racetracks for such a long time because it reminded me too much of what I’d been through,” he admits. “I saw quite a few familiar faces from F1 circuits in Bahrain but, this time, I managed to get over it. I couldn’t have done that before. That period is now over. I’m open about the future. And as I soon realised that I could manage in the cockpit in spite of the restrictions with my right arm, I agreed to think about Colin’s offer to race in the 2017 WEC season and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans!”

A few weeks later, seeing that his DTM contacts were getting fewer and fewer, he agreed to join Kolles.

“I’ve had some tough times,” he explains. “I chose rallying first of all, but it didn’t really go as expected. So I thought again about what I wanted to do and decided to return as a professional race track driver. It’s no secret that I was looking for a seat in DTM which is closer to what I’ve always done. I didn’t work out so I switched to something completely different in endurance. It’s totally new for me with Le Mans as the highlight. It’s a unique race that I’m looking forward to discovering!”

Kubica is not expecting anything in return as far as results go, but he’ll be giving it his all as usual.

“As a private team up against two works teams, we don’t stand a chance,” he acknowledges. “We’re not expecting any miracles, but we’ll do our best with what we have. This weekend, I’m here to meet the team, understand what endurance is about, and drive.” And build a new career!