- Have you ever seen a sleigh ride that speeds 300, or maybe even 400 horses? And mechanical ones at that? And that's exactly how Polish rally champion Janusz Kulig drives! Apparently this song is sung to you by various friends and riders who are on your side, with words that are supposed to spur you on to drive faster. Do you hear anything at all? - I try - How do these words sound, as if you could quote them yourself with your own face? - With my own face I can quote the words of this song at least in part. "A sleigh rushes by, like a flash of lightning, hey they kidnapped this maiden straight from Kmicic (explanation: "Kmicic" is a hero of one of the Polish novels)". I think so. (Explanation - "Kulig" is Janusz's surname, and in the Polish language the word means sleigh ride, i.e. riding on a sledge attached to horses or a car). - It wasn't quite like that. I'm the one who will tell you the truth about how they cheer for him. It goes like this: "The sleigh rushes by", what's next there? - Like a flash of lightning... - ... hey passed the Holowczyc! - oh (laugh) - Listen, this is no joke, really. That's the set of information I have. You didn't know about them singing it like that? - No, it's the first time I've heard it like that. - Oh, someone's trying to trick me here - I think the informants were misinformed (he smiles) - Listen, he's your friend, so don't tell me such things here. I understand that you are modest, but in "Kormoran" "Holek" was undefeated for 4 years, how did you manage to win against him? So honestly, without modesty - I don't know (he smiles). I think it's a bit of a result of what we've been doing with Jarek for a few years. Nobody in Poland at the moment is doing 10-11 rallies. We do. We drive a lot of kilometres. I have a very good group of sponsors who really don't spare any money for us to develop. I go to practice sessions in Finland, I have had the pleasure of driving with most of these top drivers competing in the world championship. I think this is the kind of moment where we are able to take advantage of that and reap the rewards of that work, especially the last two years. - Listen, is Tommi Makinen the lumberjack and that's his weird story. - Yes - He drives you around, right? - Yes, he drove me, and I'll admit that those were probably some of the most dramatic moments for me because I'm generally afraid to drive in the right seat. - So as a passenger? - As a passenger. I am panic-stricken to sit in the right seat when.... especially when it's a rally car, when I know we're about to jump, we're about to go very fast.... - Haha, so you only trust yourself? - ...It even happened once that after one such ride, even during the ride.... it wasn't even a ride, it was basically training in Finland, well unfortunately we had to stop in the middle of the attempt and I threw up - Are you joking? Really? - Unfortunately - So what happened there? - There are horrendous overloads there, it's very warm, and then there's the psyche - I was dependent on someone. That's why I'm full of admiration for the pilots who sit on the sidelines, have their notes, can read them, and it's shaking like hell out there. And they can sometimes stand in that car and not scream. Because I suspect I would scream when the car is skidding at 150 km/h and the skid is in the forest and you can see the rear wing rubbing against the trees. It is a very big impression. The driver is obviously busy - spinning, braking, trying to save himself. Like a cat - you throw it to the ground it tries to fall on its four paws, while the pilot watches sometimes, that split second - waiting to see what happens. - Isn't it true that there's a superstition - I mean, you adhere to it - that if a woman gets into a car it's bad? - A hundred times yes. My apologies to all the ladies. In fact, before the rallies, no women got in. Sometimes I feel silly because there are a lot of women in our sponsorship group who would like a ride before the rally. We have tests, there is time for that.... - They would like to warm up the seat - ...it's hard for me to explain sometimes that how - we give money and I don't want to drive you, but that's the way it is, there's just some kind of fatality - So what, when such a sponsor approaches you say "Well, Miss Ela, not now". - How do you know Miss Ela? (laughs) - Listen well, as if to tell you, my sister. Let's change the subject then - do you swear behind the wheel? - Rarely, but sometimes it happens. And that's usually in a rally car. Normally in traffic surprisingly very rarely. - And when there is a rally, what word do you use most often? - Me thinks there's a word, it starts with a "K" (explanation - "Kurwa", you can translate it to "Fuck") - And why doesn't a sports car have airbags? - Because we are protected by six-point seatbelts, we sit in special seats. These belts are pulled so tight that it's almost impossible to make any movement with your body, so there's no danger of your body falling on the steering wheel. And besides, I suspect that these devices weigh something, and you have to aim to make the car as light as possible - And why do rally drivers supposedly not look at the speedometer. Are they afraid? - No, because in most rally cars it simply isn't there. That's because what really matters is the acceleration of the rally car, not the speed. Sometimes I hear "How fast do you guys go in these rallies, 250 km/h?". Of course, there are times when we go around 200 km/h on the straight. But that's not the most important thing. The most important thing is to get the car away as quickly as possible after exiting the corner. - Coming back to Tommy Makinen for a moment. The question is - what is the difference between a Finnish driver and one from the rest of the world - Haha, it's a joke. So European driver on the Thousand Lakes Rally pulling his foot off the accelerator on reaching the summit because there might be a turn behind the summit. And a Finnish driver, on reaching the summit, takes his foot off the accelerator because there might be a straight line behind the summit. (laughs) ** Janusz Kulig died tragically in an accident at a level crossing in 2004.
