WRC team M-Sport already stunned by Kubica's dedication

Speaking on the AUTOSPORT Stage with KX at AUTOSPORT International 2014, Wilson revealed that the effort Kubica was putting in since joining the Cumbrian squad had already endeared him to his crew.

"What's really shocked me is the amount of dedication and commitment that he puts into it," said Wilson.

"As an example, with the restrictions on his arm, he was at the workshop till 11pm the other night working with the engineers to reconfigure the handbrake and gearshift mechanism."

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Kubica took victory on his M-Sport debut last weekend when he won the European Rally Championship-opening Janner Rally, which he was contesting as a warm-up for his WRC season.

The Pole came from 11 seconds behind on the final stage to beat Czech champion Vaclav Pech to victory thanks to an inspired tyre choice of mixing wet and studded rubber.

"If you look at his performance at the weekend, it was very, very strong the whole way through and he saved the best for last," said Wilson.

"He used what experience he's got to make a fantastic tyre choice combination."

Wilson believes Kubica will really shine in the second half of the 2014 season, which features more of the events he contested during his title-winning WRC2 campaign in '13.

"Some of the times he was doing in WRC2, nobody has got that close to World Rally Car pace in a regional car before," he said.

"In the second half of the season with the Tarmac events he's already done, he's going to be really strong."