Janusz Kulig (19 October 1969 in Łapanów near

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

– 13 February 2004 in Rzezawa near

Bochnia Bochnia (german: Salzberg) is a town on the river Raba in southern Poland. The town lies approximately halfway between Tarnów (east) and the regional capital Kraków (west). Bochnia is most noted for its salt mine, the oldest functioning i ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

) was a Polish

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sport ...

driver. He started his career behind the wheel of a Polski Fiat 126p and during his early years in rally he also drove a Toyota Corolla, an Opel Kadett, and a

Renault Clio The Renault Clio () is a supermini car ( B-segment), produced by French automobile manufacturer Renault. It was launched in 1990, and entered its fifth generation in 2019. The Clio has had substantial critical and commercial success, being con ...

. He became one of the top drivers while driving Renault Mégane Maxi. In this car he also won his first Polish Rally Championship title in 1997. After 2 seasons with Renault, he signed a contract with Marlboro Mobil 1 team. He changed his car to a Ford Escort WRC and in following years to a Ford Focus WRC. Those years were most successful for Kulig. He won another 2 Polish Championship titles and became well known in European and World rally. Kulig spent the 2002 and 2003 seasons competing in the European Rally Championship (2nd place in 2002) and occasional WRC events. In 2002 Janusz Kulig won the Rally du Valais. His biggest success in WRC was 1st place in PCWRC in Sweden 2003 but after the rally he was stripped of his glory by FIA due to illegal modifications in his

Mitsubishi Lancer The Mitsubishi Lancer is an automobile produced by the Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors since 1973. The Lancer has been marketed as the Colt Lancer, Dodge Colt, Plymouth Colt, Chrysler Valiant Lancer, Chrysler Lancer, Eagle Summit, Hin ...

EVO VII (the

flywheel A flywheel is a mechanical device which uses the conservation of angular momentum to store rotational energy; a form of kinetic energy proportional to the product of its moment of inertia and the square of its rotational speed. In particular, as ...

had different streak than the one approved by FIA). For the 2004 Polish Championship Season he signed a contract to drive

Fiat Punto The Fiat Punto is a supermini car (B-segment) produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat from 1993 to 2018, spanning over three generations. The third generation of the car was marketed between 2005 and 2009 as the Grande Punto, and between 2009 a ...

S1600. Kulig died in an accident after his car (

Fiat Stilo The Fiat Stilo (Type 192) is a small family car available as a three- and a five-door hatchback, as well as an estate (Fiat Stilo Multi Wagon), produced by Italian automaker Fiat. The Stilo hatchbacks were presented in March 2001, at the Bologna ...

) collided with a train on a

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...

. The crossing barriers were not lowered. He was survived by his wife and two daughters.

Statistics

* 1997 – Polish Rally Championship title * 1998 – Runner-up for Polish Rally Championship title, FIA Central European Rally championship title * 1999 – Runner-up for Polish Rally Championship title, FIA Central European Rally championship title * 2000 – Polish Rally Championship title * 2001 – Polish Rally Championship title, Slovak Rally Championship title, FIA Northern European Rally Championship title * 2002 – Runner-up for FIA European Rally Championship title

External links

* http://www.januszkulig.pl/ * http://www.toprally.pl/kulig_biografia.php * https://web.archive.org/web/20050531082909/http://www.rallyplanet.com/?pid=18278 1969 births 2004 deaths Polish rally drivers People from Bochnia County Sportspeople from Lesser Poland Voivodeship Road incident deaths in Poland Railway accident deaths in Poland {{Europe-rally-bio-stub