President of the Polish National Sporting Authority (Polski Związek Motorowy), Michał Sikora was on site to witness the historic moment.

“It’s fantastic. I always wanted to have something special in Poland, some new races, new categories,” Sikora says.

Despite breaking new ground with Goodyear FIA ETRC, Poland is no stranger to hosting high-level FIA-sanctioned competitions.

Rally Poland is perhaps the country’s best-known motor sport event, first held as a round of the FIA European Rally Championship before graduating to the FIA World Rally Championship. There were also rounds of the FIA Cross-Country World Cup (Baja Poland), the FIA European Rallycross Championship (Słomczyn) and the FIA European Hill Climb Championship (Limanowa).

Though these were all closed-road or off-road competitions and so far Poland has been somewhat of an uncharted territory for international circuit racing, and that is despite having Tor Poznań in operation since 1977, a venue that on several different occasions had Formula 1 cars running as part of different promotional events.

When asked about the significance of bringing Goodyear FIA ETRC to Poland, Sikora said: “I hope that this only means further development and will help to set out a direction for the club’s development.”

“We are good organizers, especially in rallies, however we have been missing a good and modern race track,” he added.

Sikora also praised the role of the local club from Poznań (Automobilklub Wielkopolski) that manages Tor Poznań in bringing Goodyear FIA ETRC to the circuit. “We have the circuit in Poznań and I am glad that the club that manages this track is developing. This is something that has been missing for years, and now we can actually see progress,” he concluded.

Having an FIA-sanctioned European-level competition in the country coincides with the PZM’s efforts at grassroots levels. In an interview released by FIA Region I earlier this year, Sikora gave an update on recent developments currently underway across the country.

“Local governments, despite the fact that they do not have sufficient resources, try to do what they can. We are just before the modernization of the track in Biłgoraj. There are plans to build a track near Leszno. In Szczecin, we are talking about changing the already non-homologated facility. I am counting on the reactivation of karting and the new rallycross track at Miedziana Góra in Kielce.”

FOND TRUCK RACING MEMORIES
Sikora himself is familiar with the sport of truck racing and has childhood memories of his uncle, Tomasz Sikora, being one of the two factory drivers who drove a pair of Polish Star trucks in two rounds of the 1987 FIA European Truck Racing Cup season held at the Hungaroring as well as Finland’s Turku circuit.

The official presentation of the two trucks took place prior to the Hungaroring round at the now-defunct circuit in Kielce, Poland.

“In the late 1980s I witnessed my uncle trying out a Star racing truck, which later competed in races. It was at the track in Kielce. It was something interesting and I have been passionate about it since I was a young boy,” recalls Sikora.