I am very pleased to be able to bring you the following interview. Anyone who has been following my social networks may have noticed that I have been following karting for a long time. I’ve been thinking for a long time about bringing in an interview with someone from this sport. However, it is not entirely easy. Guys (even girls) race almost every week, which brings a lot of travel and little free time.
I am very happy to introduce you today one of my favorite drivers, which is very successful in this sport. The young Polish driver Borys Łyżeń, in addition to becoming the Polish Rotax Mini Max champion last year and also winning the Karting Championships in Poland, is the vice-champion of the world in the Rotax Mini Max category, when he finished a little unluckly at the world finals in Bahrain only on second place.
He is currently racing in the World Series Karting (WSK) on circuits in Italy for the KidiX Driver Perfomance team, which is also part of the Fernando Alonso Academy. Borys will tell us more about himself and his successes in the following interview.
For me it´s interesting that your idol is Ayrton Senna. I don’t think that many boys at your age know about him, although they may know the name, but most certainly don’t know as much about him as you. Mostly they have as idols the racers they can see now in F1 such as Verstappen or Hamilton…
So how did you find out about Senna? Because when he had the accident, none of us were in the world yet… And what fascinates you on him?
My parents once launhed me a movie about Ayrton Senna, and it fascinated me. That’s when I said to myself that no one is better (or wasn´t better) than him, and I think that’s still true. Before and after I saw a lot of different movies about different racers but in my opinion there was something magical about Ayrton Senna’s drive.
When you started with karting, it was definitely about driving for fun at first. When the moment came that your parents with you decided, that they would do everything to give you a chance to be the best in this sport and to achieve success. And what has changed for you since that moment?
A lot has changed. I remember the first time we came to the hall to try driving karts. It was something really amazing for me when I start driving. Then we went for about 3 years just from time to time to ride, really just for fun. In 2019, we decided to try the races as well. I raced six or seven weekends. I was successful in the second half, so we decided to continue to do so in 2020.
That was in the Rotax Micro Max category. A lot of things happened, I won the first two races of the season. Later I missed a bit of ideas and also my setup was not the best.
In 2021, after a difficult Bonus Cup for us, my father and I agreed that the only way to win is that we have to have fun with it. So we started to have fun and we managed to win practically everything in the Rotax category and also in the series of the Karting Championships in Poland.
As a Polish champion in the Rotax Mini Max category, I also got the ticket and chance to represent Poland on Rotax Grand Finals, which took place in Bahrain. I finished second there which was a very good result.
I am now racing in the WSK (World Series Karting) in the colors of the Fernando Alonso team. So far, it’s a pretty good story. Now my main goal is to improve my position in WSK. We have a good pace in the races, so we’ll see.
The whole Rotax Grand Finals was a big event. There was a lot of competitors from different countries, so how did you like it?
I really liked it all, for example, how we drove in the evening under artificial lighting, but the whole race was great.
You were very close to even becoming a World Champion. You were in the lead the entire final race and you lost first position in the last lap. Even though I know you as a still positive thinking person, it must have been hard to get through something like that ..?
Yes, at first moments after the race it was very difficult. But later I recovered from that and I take it as another experience. It was a very good weekend. I finished second in the Grand Finals, which is the best result of a Polish driver in the history of this big event, so I am satisfied.
After this success, you also had some media responsibilities – interviews on the radio or television and so on. Did you feel that you are more popular after your success in Bahrain or that it brought you more fans?
Surely, that success at the Grand Finals has brought me some fame. It is a good feeling. But now I would especially that my results in WSK to be closer to those which I achieved in Bahrain.
You are now racing in the KidiX Driver Performance team, which is a factory team, so you definitely have very good conditions to moving forward. How do you feel in the team and how do you get along with your teammates? In motorsport, it is often said that the first opponent you want to beat is your teammate. Does this also apply to your team?
Honestly, when you said that the first person I want to beat is my teammate… I disagree a bit with that. I just try to give everything into my performance on track and I won’t let anyone get to my head. I have fun when I´m driving. Sure, I have very good conditions at Kidix. Our cooperation and comunication with mechanics is really great and I think success is just a matter of time.
You say that you are not completely satisfied with your previous results in WSK. On one side, you show great potential, you have a good pace, you are able to be the fastest on the track, but then there comes a moment that slows you down. Whether a failed qualification or something like that… Then you have to take a lot of risks, even though you have already proved several times that you can go back up.
Do you think that if you managed a weekend where everything worked out for you, it would break bad luck and you would be able to fight regularly at the front of the race?
Given that I have such a good pace, I want to eliminate those mistakes as soon as possible. I am convinced that I am able to be in the lead and fight for victory in the WSK races, and that is what motivates me the most. Like I said, I think it’s a matter of time. I learn something new with each race. I’m also learning how the other racers on the track are behaving and I’m still waiting patiently.
What is the biggest change for you in WSK compared to the races in Poland, apart from the fact that there is definitely more competitive ..?
It’s definitely higher level, it’s not for nothing that it’s called Wold Series Karting. There are other engines than the ones I’ve ridden in the past in Poland. There are also differences in the rules and definitely everything it´s more difficult.
You broke your hand unluckly recently, so now you have a short break from racing. How are you preparing to return to the circuits?
I try to prepare as hard as always and maybe even better :). They just dropped my brace down and I’m starting to train intensively and prepare for the next races from tomorrow. I should return to the races on May 8th.
Races at the highest level include, among other things, a lot of traveling and a lot of time spent away from home. How are you used to it? Do you like traveling and exploring new countries?
Yes, I like traveling. I’m made for it … 🙂
And what about school? Do you have an individual plan so you could to learn between races?
Yes, I have an individual plan at school. Now that I had a broken hand, I have a lot to do to school. I have a lot of tests so I learn a lot and hard during this period. When I have race week, I usually connect with my teachers after every day and I have one or two lessons, plus of course I get homework from them.
A typical question would be what is your dream or what you want to achieve in future in your career. But I know that you would definitely answer that it is to become an F1 driver. So I ask differently. If you could choose which F1 team you would like to race in and why? And who should be your teammate?
In the future, I would like to be a Ferrari driver. Ferrari has always been one of my favorite teams but it is also one of the biggest and best teams. Ferrari is simply an F1 legend. And I would like to be on the team with Charles Leclerc, because he is a very talented young driver. Who knows, maybe I’ll be racing with him in a few years. 🙂
In the end, I wanted to ask you for some funny or interesting story from the races, but then I remembered that in one of the races you must drove with almost only one eye when something stung you to your eyelid. How did you managed race with something like that?
That was funny (laughs)… I remember before that stabbing I was one of the fastest, maybe the fastest on the track. Then I was stabbed by wasp. Suddenly, according to the times, I was on 6 or 7. place. As it turned out, I lost all that time in the left turns, as that wasp stabbed me in the left eye. I thnk that it was a funny situation at all. 😀
I thanks very much Borys for this interview, and wish him the most successful return to the circuits.
