Bartosz Ostałowski about Adversities, Determination, and Fighting for his Dreams

You love speed, extreme driving and the loud roar of the engine, and being on the track is really your thing. When did you discover that motorsport is your passion?

In fact, it is something that has always been with me. Ever since I was a little boy, I have enjoyed cars and motorcycles a lot. I wanted to watch, touch, get in the car, try to drive. Whenever it was possible, I sat on my dad's lap to turn the steering wheel a bit, because I couldn’t reach the pedals. I was also interested in various types of sports events and racing cars. With time, I realised that the next steps in my life were driven by my involvement in the automotive industry, exploring the subject of car construction and technology. When I chose my field of study, I chose mechanics and machine construction, something closely related to the engineering side of the automotive industry.

And did you decide to switch from pure fun to competing in races?

I think during high school or even elementary school. I have always dreamed of becoming a professional driver and being able to take part in a rally. As a child, I watched racing teams, cars and their preparation. It was very emotional for me, but I didn't know exactly how to do it then. In my high school days, I tried to get more and more technical information, and then went to the relevant studies. In the meantime, I bought my first car and prepared it for competitions. As soon as I got my driving license, I immediately planned to take part in the first SuperOES and collect points for the rally license. From the beginning, I was focused on racing.

An accident in which you suffered and lost your limbs would cause many people to break down. You prove that the damage to health is not an obstacle you cannot overcome. Tell me, to what extent has this situation changed you and your approach to life? Have you become stronger because of it?

I think for sure. I was 20 when the accident happened, so you could say it was the beginning of my adult life. At that time, I spent a lot of time in the workshop perfecting my car. I also rode a motorcycle and studied on a daily basis, so there were quite a lot of these activities. I tried to prepare as much as possible to make my dreams of my first professional competition a reality. One day a shocking accident happened. It was a drive from place A to point B, literally a few streets away from my home, in the city where I lived, on a route that I traveled many times. We went with my friend who was riding his motorcycle in front of me. We turned off the ring road into the city center and suddenly a car came out of the minor road between us and blocked my way. I tried to slow down, but I saw that I could not do it because it was happening very quickly. When you follow someone, you look more at the driver in front. This car suddenly appeared between us, so I had little time to react. I found that I would defensively put the motorcycle on the right side to avoid hitting the car. It worked, but with the centrifugal force I moved towards the road and hit my hands on the roadside railing made of old pipes. This was so unfortunate that the doctors had to make the decision to amputate. It was then that my whole life fell apart. All the plans, aspirations, activities, that I took up on a daily basis suddenly ceased to be realistic and possible to continue. I found myself in the hospital, scared because I lost both hands and didn't know what my life would be like. I didn't think I'd ever get behind the wheel again.

How important was family support in the rehabilitation process? Did you use a psychologist’s help at that time?

Rehabilitation took me about a year. At the beginning it was recovering from wounds after surgery in hospitals, and then rehabilitation in order to regain some fitness. At that time, the presence and support of the family was very important, but at some point, you are left alone with it. You have to decide what to do next, because there was a moment when I came back from all these hospitals and found myself back in my city, in my own apartment. I visited my garage, where my motorcycle was standing, and the car that was at the mechanic as I had left it. Nobody had time to take care of it. At that point, I realized that I would never do anything to the car again and never get on the motorcycle. It was a sad and depressing come back to reality. Some activities of everyday life were difficult, but what mattered was the help of my relatives, thanks to which I did not feel that I was not able to do anything from my daily routine. At one point, I felt that I did not want to just stand still and be dependent on the help of others, but I would like to try to take some steps myself. There were many unknowns. There were some suggestions that I should change my field of study, because I will not do much in mechanics and I should start arranging my life differently. However, I felt that I did not want to change anything, because it had always been my passion, so I tried to return to the point where I had started. I also fought to continue my passion as far as I can. Maybe not as a driver or an active participant anymore, but I was thinking about the possibility of being an engineer in a racing team who could design or plan something. I just wanted to be part of the motorsport world. With such a resolution, I returned to college and at the same time began to look for solutions on how to be more independent. I decided that I would do whatever I could to become independent in this new situation, and I wanted to see where that would lead me. It gave me the driving force to act, and the fact that I was stubborn and wanted to regain some of my old life meant that I didn't need any help from psychologists. I was just focusing on the goal. While in college, I was looking for inspiration among people who found themselves in a similar situation to mine. The magic moment came when I found a video of a driver driving with his foot. Then I regained my hope. There was a chance that I would be able to try to drive, and I did. I bought a car with an automatic transmission for test drives. I went with my dad to a big airport to be safe. I got behind the wheel, put the drive on, released the brake, the car started and I felt that I could control it, I could turn, accelerate, brake. Then I realized that I shouldn’t give up on cars and that I would be able to drive.

What did you feel when you got into the car as a driver for the first time since the accident?

It was an amazing feeling, but I was brought down to earth pretty quickly. Such a position with the leg on the steering wheel is not entirely natural and comfortable, so my leg quickly felt cramped, my muscles and tendons began to pull. I felt discomfort so I had to stop, but I knew it was possible. I went home, stretched and exercised to strengthen my muscles, stretch them so my leg had more range of motion. The next day I went back behind the wheel, then to exercise, and every day I was able to drive longer and feel good. After a month or so, I went to university by myself for the first time.

Hands-free driving is quite a challenge. How and where did you learn to steer with your foot?

I was learning on my own, although there was a moment when I met an artist who lived near my city and he also drove with his foot. I also saw him do it, open the door and steer the car. This was another proof that it is possible and it is only a matter of work and exercise. Later, I was driving with a driver who was sitting next to me and he could hold the steering wheel, apply the handbrake, or help with something if I did not have time to react. It was a safety buffer for me, I was able to comfortably test various situations that might later happen on the road. Exercises aimed at improving the foot also helped. I think it underwent a transformation over time and thanks to that I started to feel the whole car and its driving. This is also how the idea was born to return to motorsport and more extreme driving.

You are the only professional racing driver in the world to drive a car with only his foot. Your story shows that "the impossible does not exist" - how, despite the difficulties and limitations, did you manage to do it?

It was definitely something no one believed in at first. I decided that I would start my adventure with sports driving, from before the accident, with small steps. We bought another car for testing - an old BMW E30 with an automatic transmission, which I was supposed to drive for training, to try my abilities in more technical driving with higher overloads, on a more grippy tire. So it happened. The car was modified to my requirements, but it happened in stages. At the beginning, I saw that the overloads are much greater, so we put on a sports seat with a side grip, then we set the gas and brake pedals differently. Later, I also changed the steering wheel to one that is more grippy and with such small steps I prepared this car so that I could do all the things inside better and better. Along with my development, when I saw that I was getting better at a given thing but still I was missing something, I quickly tried to change and improve it. A year later, a moment came when I saw that I do not stand out from my colleagues who train with me and are fully- fit. I realized that I was able to do exactly what they did. Then I thought to go a step further, take a chance and try to get my professional driver's license. I called Automobilclub Rzemieślnik, Kuba Mroczkowski, who was its president, and said that I had no hands, but I would like to get a racing license. There was a bit of disbelief, but you know what to think of in such a situation. We arranged a meeting at the Autodrom Słomczyn racetrack, where we were to talk about it all and show me how I drive. There was also a sports driving instructor on site, who was to assess how I drive and how I handle the car. I took my BMW, went to Warsaw, got into the car with the instructor, drove him around the track, showed him what I can do, I even drove a little sharper with some skidding when exiting the corners. A memorable scene was the return from the tests, arrival at the finish line and the opinion of the instructor who commented on my ride, saying: "It's okay." I showed that I can control the car well, that there is nothing to complain about in my driving and the sporty driving line. This opened the way for me to take the exam, but it turned out that in order to pass this exam, I also have to show that I can get out of the car in 8 seconds. It was a very big challenge, because you have to unfasten the seat belts, open the door and get out, and I couldn't unfasten the seat belts on my own. Sports belts are specifically constructed, they have a central buckle on the abdomen that must be twisted. Then four belts pop out of the clasp, but I couldn't do it. It was also such a thing that could destroy all my aspirations and ruin the whole plan. Then I felt that it was so close that I practically have it in my hand, and I don't quite know how to deal with this one element. So, I took up another challenge and started to think about what mechanism to use to solve the belt problem. It took several weeks, but I finally developed a simple mechanism and connected the lever to the central buckle on the belts. One kick to the lever was enough, the belts opened and I finally got out of the exam in 4.3 seconds, so almost half the time required. I passed the exam and the way to professional motorsport was open.

What do you think was the biggest contributor to the relatively quick re-driving process? Was this adrenaline addiction that took over?

Maybe not exactly adrenaline addiction, but inner anxiety caused by limitations in the realization of my passions. I really wanted to get back behind the wheel and pursue my dreams. I was also driven by stubbornness and reluctance towards standard solutions. Usually, it seems that a person with a disability needs to be looked after, supported and has a limited range of possibilities. I didn't want to hear about it. I decided that I want to fight for my independence. I think that has helped me the most and has improved the process. I did not look through the prism of stereotypes, but wanted to follow my dreams regardless of popular opinion.

What are your workouts like? Do you arrange them yourself or do you use any help?

I arrange the trainings myself. The biggest challenge is financing because motorsport is very expensive. It is one of the most expensive sports in the world and it costs a lot to prepare a competitive car. In addition, there is also service, logistics related to trips, transporting cars to the track or purchasing tires. I run a company myself to be able to race and tighten all cooperation. It consists of a lot of elements. It is also running social media, working with sponsors, searching for them, rebuilding a car in winter and running a workshop. In fact, because of this, there is not as much time for training as you would like to spend. I regret it, but having a team that would do it comprehensively requires a gigantic budget. Therefore, it is the funds that constantly determine the training possibilities. However, it can be done. Maybe not so often, but at least once a month I try to come to the track to drive, improve my driving skills and develop as a driver. It is something that requires a lot of determination and perseverance to connect all these points to finally be on the track and start.

Do you follow any special diet? What are your ideas for post-workout recovery?

Many people forget that also in motorsport, an appropriate, balanced diet is very important. It is also a sport, so just like in other sports, nutrition affects concentration, well-being and condition. These are very important elements that determine the final result. I try to eat healthy and take care of the right number of calories. A lot of effort during sports driving means that my body's needs are higher than standard. Due to the fact that I run with my foot and sit in a slightly unnatural position behind the wheel, an important part of my training is stretching and strengthening the leg muscles. I run with my Belgian Shepherd three times a day, which motivates me to take up my daily activities. On the one hand, it is a great conditioning training, but on the other hand, I treat it as a method of regeneration and active rest. In addition, I try to balance my time to find time to rest after a working day.

You got popular when you were invited to the show "The Grand Tour". How important and valuable was this experience for you?

It was an amazing adventure for me. I have fantastic memories of meeting Richard Hammond, who is a great man and as he is on TV, as he is in a real life. We still keep in touch. One of the biggest challenges of performing on The Grand Tour was the logistics because we had to drive my sports car to England where the shootings took place. From the media perspective, it was a big leap forward for me in terms of recognition. You can say that suddenly from "domestic product" I became a person known all over the world, because "The Grand Tour" has a global reach. Other players who were following the program started talking to me. It wasn't the only international project, but it made me a drifter with global recognition among fans. Basically, everyone has heard of me as a driver, so it was an amazing experience. We were not fully prepared to make good use of this opportunity and develop better as a team, even in terms of foreign starts. We did not have such background, but it was a fantastic adventure that can be remembered for a long time. The very fact that I was the only Pole who appeared in this program gives me enormous satisfaction.

When did the thought of running an Instagram profile and social media appear in your head? What were your beginnings like?

When Facebook and Instagram came into being, I had moments of hesitation and didn't set up an account right away. I watched, I was not convinced if it was something permanent, or if it would not soon turn out to be a passing trend. After a year, when I saw that it is growing very quickly and translates into reach, contact with fans, the possibility of even better communication about my achievements and plans, I decided to appear on Facebook at the beginning and then on Instagram. It was a new adventure for me, because I had to learn social media, what to do to properly and effectively reach my fans. It was a separate branch that required a lot of work and study, but I think it was worth it.

Your Instagram community has almost 80,000 people - what do you think is the secret of getting so many people to follow you?

I am getting some feedback in private messages. My story is very motivating because people can see that there is someone who is doing the impossible. At first, people who have not heard of me before say, “Impossible! Show me the video". People see that the problems that I struggle with in my daily life are not a reason for me to give up on my goals, so as they see the scale of my challenges, their problems become smaller. They have no excuse and no reason to complain. I believe that this is the main reason for such a large group of observers, but also the drift and motorsport itself is so spectacular, interesting and exciting that they want to follow my sports activities and keep their fingers crossed for my performances. I think it is worth mentioning that I start on the same basis as other drivers and people are simply curious about how I will do in such a comparison. Every year I'm getting better and better, so there is a chance that I will be able to win the championship. I proved it already in 2019, when I won the 3rd place in the general classification and thus won the title of Drifting Vice-Champion of Poland.

What did you want to achieve by acting on social media and what was the goal of it - promoting your sports discipline, informing about industry events, increasing awareness, supporting promotional, marketing and PR activities, or maybe building your personal brand?

For all athletes, activity in social media means increasing the recognition and awareness of their own brand. I think it is the same in my case as well. I do not hide that if I want partners and I want to work with brands, it is also a certain lever of communication and a way of working on building a personal brand. It also allows me to promote brands that support me. I would like to emphasize this because without the support of my partners I would not be able to compete. Similar activities are undertaken by athletes representing various disciplines, e.g. football clubs put a lot of work and resources into the development of social media in order to be able to inform their fans what is happening with them. We use the same strategy. Additionally, thanks to the messages I get, I feel a bit like a role model, because people are following my example. On the one hand, it motivates me, but on the other - I feel responsible that I cannot fail, because many people place their hopes in me, I am an inspiration to them. In addition, we have fun, because we work with photographers and filmmakers to create content on social media. We create engaging and unique content. This is something that gives me satisfaction and I like to take an active part in it.

What percentage of your followers are people with disabilities? Do you get any messages from them asking for advice? Do you feel that your attitude is influencing their lives?

Certainly, disabled people are among my followers. It's hard for me to say what percentage of the entire community is - I suspect it's 10 percent, maybe less. I have an audience from all over the world and the percentage of people with disabilities globally is quite small. Nevertheless, even if we have 100,000 followers on Instagram or Facebook, which may be 5 percent, this is still a very large group of people I can inspire and support in some way. Many people write that due to the fact that they saw me and got to know my story, they believed in themselves and decided, for example, to take a driving test. Sometimes even fully-fit people are afraid of the exam, and when they see that someone without hands is driving, it automatically motivates them and encourages them to try as well. There is also one competitor in the Polish championship, who, after finding out that I was driving, decided that she should start competing herself. Now we see each other at competitions, so this is also great news for me. I also try to share how I dealt with adversity and how I am coping now. These types of questions come up the most often, so I try to get involved.

You inspire trust and sympathy in your community. How do you communicate with your audience and how do you interact with them?

I try to find time every day. Usually, in the morning I check my mailbox and write back. A lot of messages are, for example, congratulations on a successful competition, so it's hard for me to write back to that, but when I see that someone is in need or I could help in some way, I write back. I notice that the larger the fan group, the more social media channels grow, the more difficult it is for me to filter all messages, so sometimes fans only get a response in the form of an auto-generated message. However, if possible, I try to check who is writing to me every day.

Are there any unflattering comments under your posts and do you face hate? If so, how do you deal with them?

Hate happens, but among the wave of positive comments, words of support and information that people are inspired by my story, I hardly notice it. Sometimes someone sees a video taken out of context, for example, I am talking about something while driving a car and on the basis of this, they claim that by driving with my foot I create a hazard on the road. This person does not know that I am a professional driver and I am drifting. Such a user does not know my story, but goes to one video and expresses his opinion immediately. Then I try to inform you that I got a driving license like everyone else, that I had to prove like everyone else that I can control the car, go through exactly the same steps. We cannot judge in such a way that if someone does something different, it means that he is worse. Sometimes you feel frustrated in these statements that someone is not very good at something and it affects them, that a person without hands achieves something that he would like to, but for some reason does not reach for it. There is a lack of motivation, self-denial, and maybe laziness prevails. It is such a known psychological trick that if someone hates a lot on the Internet, it means that they have some problems to work through. Being aware of this, I either leave it unanswered, or send it to watch other videos, where he will learn something about me. If someone is more constructive in criticism, I try to explain.

How much time do you spend preparing the content you publish? Do you have any ongoing support in this matter?

We are constantly developing and I would still like to be even more effective in this audiovisual presentation. Sławek, who is a manager in our team, helps me on a daily basis and together we try to create content, run social media, publish posts, plan communication, so I'm not alone. We also have a photographer who is with us at the competition, he provides us with high-quality photos from the events. We also have our own filmmaker with whom we work. I think that at this stage it is impossible to create good communication on social media without it. Of course, we could use even people, because frankly speaking, there are many fleeting moments around what is going on at the competition that are difficult to capture. On the other hand, having a media army generates high costs.

Do you think Instagram is an effective tool for promoting products and services of brands from the automotive industry?

I think so, but I would say that any medium is an effective tool, because it might as well be Facebook. It depends on what target group they want to reach and where their fans are more often. This is a very complex topic and it is difficult to answer with one sentence. Instagram is certainly an effective tool, as can be seen from the amount of sponsored posts on the accounts of various creators. The automotive market works very well on both Instagram and Facebook, so the key to effectiveness is to choose the channel that our potential customers use. I also think that it is worth diversifying your activities on various platforms, because it allows you to reach a larger number of recipients with your message. This year we also appeared on TikTok and I believe that it is a platform that is dynamically developing, allows you to get very large reaches and gives you the opportunity to do something in a slightly different format. In a short time, usually similar things appear on social platforms, on YouTube - shorts and Instagram - reels, so this proves that people were waiting for it, maybe unknowingly, but they were positively surprised. This is an inspiration and a challenge for the creators. YouTube is also a nice place, because we can find many people there who create automotive content and also have large reach and very advanced accounts. Therefore, I believe that any social channel is a good place to post this type of content.

Do you think you can monetize your online activities by running a sports channel, especially extreme sports? Do brands come to you with a proposal for cooperation on Instagram?

There are various proposals and if they suit us and are consistent with our philosophy, i.e. related to motorization, motivation or a sporty lifestyle, we establish cooperation. In this case, I always try to test the product or service personally, because I want to recommend to my fans what I think is valuable. There is a question of a certain responsibility to my observers. Undertaking promotional cooperation is a positive side effect of our activity. We built channels for the sake of sport, for the promotion of our brand and communication with fans, but if it can also be a source of additional income, we try to use it. However, we make a selection because not everything is suitable for us. I am willing to promote anything related to the automotive industry, i.e. cars, new models, tires or car parts. This is something that we can naturally show in our workshop, at competitions, test on the track or in urban conditions. I know this, I have the knowledge and it is very easy to present or create content. It is similar in the case of supplements, training methods and keeping fit. If something works, I use it and can recommend it with a clear conscience, why not. There is definitely a branch that we haven't touched yet, that is simracing and computer games. Many people wonder how I deal with it. I don't have much time to play, but actually, it's also interesting. We certainly do not decide on what is not adequate to our activity. YouTube is the only place where these views can actually be translated into income, while the main source is brand placement in your content. This is the most common area of ​​interest for influencers.

By your actions you prove that there are no limits, and adversity is only a state of mind. What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?

Looking back over the years, the greatest achievement is the fact that I am in motorsport at all, that I had enough courage and determination to take part in my first races, not to give up, not to listen to people who said that it would not work, it's too dangerous and so on. In fact, everything is dangerous, and by trying to fight for our dreams, we can get to something we did not expect. This also happened in my case, because I did not think that I would be able to fight for the first places in the competition with fully-fit players, and this is already happening. Another such success was the return to painting, which was also my passion, and I thought I would never be able to do that again, and now I paint with my foot. Apart from that, I can mention the media achievements, i.e. the meeting with Richard Hammond, Nico Hulkenberg and the drift between Formula 1 cars. Not every driver would allow drifting between F1 cars, which are not cheap. I also took part in a promotional video for the Rio Paralympics. It is true that motorsport is not an Olympic sport, and yet they wanted to show that people with disabilities can do well in this sport. We try to set ourselves new challenges. However, in terms of strictly sports, they will include victory on the track in Germany or Poland's runner-up in 2019. All this would not have happened if it had not been for getting a license and breaking into racing.

Do you have any sports or media dreams that seem "impossible" at the moment?

Fantastic things are happening and I try to work every day to develop it. It is known that we have better and worse days. I would like to develop what is already working well now, i.e. social media and media communication, but I also want to develop myself as a player. I may compete abroad more, and even appear in the States at Formula Drift league competitions. Certainly, these would be fun adventures worth experiencing. From year to year, I try to set the bar higher and higher and I haven't said the last word yet.

You have a huge group of people watching you on Instagram, where you show your sports life and fight with difficulties. What would you recommend to young people who have their dreams, but do not fully believe in themselves and lack motivation?

My recommendation would be to find your single biggest dream, one goal they care about the most, one that they feel best about. A goal, which is something that does not require so much effort but brings satisfactory results. Something that gives the prospect that the skills in this area are high enough to be developed. People often have doubts about what they are good at and what to do in their lives. Try to think about something that comes easy to you and you do not have to spend a lot of time on it, but it comes out fairly easily and quickly and then develop it, but develop it in small steps. You want to go to space? Surely. it will not happen in a week, but you can start reading about it, gather theoretical knowledge, go to the appropriate field of study, which will allow you to gain experience and skills, so that you can find a job in a company that deals with space flights. I think that's how you have to approach it. To start with small steps, but if we take this one small step every day, in a month we will be in a completely different place than we were before. It was the same with me and I think it was a good way.

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