Bartosz Ostalowski just took third overall in Poland’s semi-pro drifting class, making him the Second Drifting Vice-Champion of Poland 2024. What makes that a particularly exceptional accomplishment is that Ostalowski has no arms. The dude drives with his feet—left on the wheel, right on the pedals. Legend.
Ostalowski has been in the drifting scene for some years already. In fact, he gave the one and only Ken Block a ride back in 2019. This old video on KB’s channel gives you a good look at how Ostalowski is able to operate a car and compete. Looks like the hand brake is rigged as another pedal, kind of old-school truck style.
Ostalowski lost his arms in a motorcycle accident in 2006, and was into motorsports before that but didn’t start drifting until after the incident. In addition to racing, he also gives motivational talks because, well, of course. His website has a lot of imagery and info on it if you want to explore his backstory more, though you will have to translate some from Polish.
It’s deeply tragic that he lost two critical limbs and it’s hard to imagine how awful that experience must have been. But man, the guy’s attitude in all his YouTube videos comes through as overwhelmingly positive. It really is inspiring. Watching Ostalowski work makes me feel like nothing’s impossible, which seems to be a mantra for the guy.
As I mentioned, he’s a pretty well-established racer, but only popped up on my radar this week when his team sent out a release about his season finish this year. Here’s the quick bio we got for a little more context:
“The world’s only professional sports driver who drives a car with his foot. He holds an international FIA racing license and successfully competes on equal terms with able-bodied drivers in the Polish Drifting Championship and European leagues. He is a motivational speaker appearing at conferences and business meetings. He tries to support people in achieving success, as well as in personal development. In addition, he is an artist and a member of the AMUN Publishing House, which brings together people by word of mouth and feet.”
He drove a heavily modified E92 Bimmer this season, with a raft of custom controls.
The Polish drifting podium broke down like this for 2024:
- Kevin Wróbel (Champion of Poland) – 342 points
- Krzysztof Jóźwiak (Vice-Champion of Poland) – 334 points
- Bartosz Ostałowski (2nd Vice-Champion of Poland) – 303 points
Ostalowski’s YouTube channel is worth a sub if you’re just learning about him today, too. He not only does some driving and drifting content, but he’s also often hard at work building and renovating his automotive workspace. A true gearhead through and through. I particularly liked this clip showing off some drifty moves:
Congrats to Mr. Ostalowski for sliding his way onto a series podium with no arms and a great attitude. I’m glad I know about this guy now and can’t wait to watch what else he does in the future. Here’s the statement he issued after bagging the ’24 third-place trophy:
“It’s been a challenging season for us, so I’m all the more happy to end it on the podium of the Polish Drift Championship. My rivals did not give me a discount. We fought as equals and often the victory was decided by small nuances. Drifting as a motorsport discipline is developing very fast and this is also reflected in the fact that the competition is even fiercer. Winning the podium is a success for me, while as an athlete I am hungry for victories and will return next year to reach even higher. I make no secret that I aim for the Polish championship.”
If there are other racers you’ve been inspired by, tell us about it! You can reach the author at andrew.collins@thedrive.com.