The Most Famous
RACING DRIVERS from Poland
This page contains a list of the greatest Polish Racing Drivers. The pantheon dataset contains 1,080 Racing Drivers, 3 of which were born in Poland. This makes Poland the birth place of the 31st most number of Racing Drivers behind Estonia, and Monaco.
Top 4
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Polish Racing Drivers of all time. This list of famous Polish Racing Drivers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Hans Stuck (1900 - 1978)
With an HPI of 54.54, Hans Stuck is the most famous Polish Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages on wikipedia.
Hans Erich Karl Josef Stuck (pronounced "shtook"; sometimes called Hans Stuck von Villiez; 27 December 1900 – 9 February 1978) was a German motor racing driver. Both his son Hans-Joachim Stuck (born 1951) and his grandsons Johannes and Ferdinand Stuck became race drivers. Despite many successes in Grand Prix motor racing for Auto Union in the early 1930s, during the era of the famous "Silver Arrows", he is now mostly known for his domination of hillclimbing, which earned him the nickname "Bergkönig" or "King of the Mountains".
2. Robert Kubica (b. 1984)
With an HPI of 52.72, Robert Kubica is the 2nd most famous Polish Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 63 different languages.
Robert Józef Kubica (Polish pronunciation: [ˈrɔbɛrt kuˈbit͡sa] ; born 7 December 1984) is a Polish racing and rally driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for AF Corse and in the European Le Mans Series for AO. Kubica competed in Formula One between 2006 and 2021, and the World Rally Championship from 2013 to 2016; he won the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix with BMW Sauber, and remains the only Polish driver to compete in Formula One. In endurance racing, Kubica won the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship in the LMP2 class with WRT. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW Sauber F1 team, promoted from test driver to race driver during 2006. In June 2008, Kubica took his maiden and only Formula One victory at the Canadian Grand Prix. That season he led the championship at one stage, before finishing fourth overall, his best career position. Kubica drove for Renault in 2010 and was set to remain with the team in 2011. Several years later Kubica confirmed he had signed a pre-contract for the 2012 season with Ferrari, a move that was eventually cancelled by his devastating rally crash in early 2011. On 6 February 2011, Kubica was seriously injured in a crash at the Ronde di Andora rally, in which he suffered partial amputation to his forearm, and fractures on his right elbow, shoulder and leg. He was taking part to better his skills. Kubica told Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport in a bedside interview that he could feel the fingers in his right hand and was determined to make a swift return to Formula One in 2011. Since his return to good health, however, he initially stated that a return to Formula One would be "nearly impossible" because of his injury. Since then, he took part in tests with Renault and Williams, admitting that a Formula One return in the near future was not impossible. Kubica returned to racing in September 2012, winning a minor rally in Italy. Kubica was named one of "The Men of the Year 2012" by Top Gear magazine for his return to auto racing. In 2013, he drove for Citroën in the European and WRC2 Championships. He went on to win the inaugural WRC-2 title, and moved to the WRC championship full-time in 2014, driving a Ford Fiesta RS WRC prepared by M-Sport. On 16 January 2018, it was announced that Kubica would become the reserve driver of Williams for the 2018 season. On 22 November 2018, Kubica was announced as a Williams race driver for the 2019 Formula One season. He left the Williams team at the end of 2019, moving across to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, while maintaining a Formula One presence as reserve and test driver for Alfa Romeo. He has made several appearances during practice sessions in his role as test driver, including pre-season testing in 2020, and he replaced Kimi Räikkönen at the Dutch and Italian Grands Prix in 2021.
3. Adolf Brudes (1899 - 1986)
With an HPI of 50.57, Adolf Brudes is the 3rd most famous Polish Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Adolf Brudes von Breslau (15 October 1899 – 5 November 1986) was a Formula One driver from Germany and a member of German nobility. He started racing motorcycles in 1919. As an owner of a BMW and Auto Union dealership in Breslau, he had the opportunities to go racing, which he did from 1928 onwards, initially in hillclimbs. After World War II wiped out his business, he moved to Berlin and for a while became a mechanic, wherever he could find jobs. However he soon was back racing, and he continued until 1968, in hillclimbs (a career of 49 years). He participated in one World Championship Grand Prix, the 1952 Großer Preis von Deutschland, but scored no championship points. He also participated in several non-Championship Formula One races.
4. Ernst Degner (1931 - 1983)
With an HPI of 47.98, Ernst Degner is the 4th most famous Polish Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Ernst Degner (born Ernst Eugen Wotzlawek on 22 September 1931 in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia, Germany - died 10 September 1983 in Arona, Tenerife, Spain) was a professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from Eastern Germany. Degner was noted for defecting to the west in 1961, taking MZ's tuning techniques to Suzuki, and winning Suzuki's first Grand Prix championship in 1962.
People
Pantheon has 4 people classified as Polish racing drivers born between 1899 and 1984. Of these 4, 1 (25.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Polish racing drivers include Robert Kubica. The most famous deceased Polish racing drivers include Hans Stuck, Adolf Brudes, and Ernst Degner. As of April 2024, 1 new Polish racing drivers have been added to Pantheon including Ernst Degner.
Living Polish Racing Drivers
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Deceased Polish Racing Drivers
Go to all RankingsNewly Added Polish Racing Drivers (2024)
Go to all RankingsOverlapping Lives
Which Racing Drivers were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 3 most globally memorable Racing Drivers since 1700.
