I was intrigued to read recently that BMW's man of the moment, Robert Kubica nearly gave up circuit racing a few years ago to try his hands at rallying. What's more, he's clear that he would still very much like to give it a go when his Formula 1 career is over - if only for fun.

It would be interesting to see how the Pole would do. His ultra-aggressive, scruff-of-the-neck style in an F1 car gives hint that he just might be more comfortable going quickly sideways on mud and gravel than most of the current F1 grid. He wouldn't be the first man to swap the circuits for the stages though.

In the very earliest days of the sport, there was really no such distinction. The great city-to-city races that took place in the early years of the 20th Century were neither wholly races nor rallies. Come to that, even on into the 1930s, many of the circuits on which Grands Prix were held bore more relation to modern-day rally stages than the sanitised Tilkedromes of the 21st Century.

Two of the greatest drivers of the 1950s, Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss, both competed very successfully in what we might now think of as rallies. Fangio was a regular winner in ultra-long distance road events in South America, prior to World War II, while Stirling Moss drove to victory in the gruelling Mille Miglia race of 1955 (with a little help from co-driver Denis Jenkinson, who is widely, if wrongly, credited with inventing pace notes).

By the 1960s, however, stage rallying and circuit racing had matured into entirely separate disciplines. Rallying greats like Erik Carlsson, Timo Makinen, Simo Lampinen and Rauno Aaltonen were competing in an entirely different world, and cross-over events like the Mille Miglia had mostly fallen by the wayside.

F1 drivers, however, were tempted on occasion to swap disciplines and have a go at the still-nascent sport of stage rallying. In 1966, Jim Clark entered the RAC Rally at the wheel of a Lotus Cortina and, showing the natural flair he displayed at the wheel of pretty much anything, he set several fastest stage times, before eventually crashing out. One can't help feeling that, had he been so inclined, he could have been a very successful rally driver.

His Lotus team mate, Graham Hill, by contrast, was never at home at the wheel of a rally car. He too was entered in the RAC rally, at the wheel of a Mini Cooper, but hated the experience and was never anywhere near the pace. He would never return.

Sports car legend Derek Bell seemed similarly uncomfortable when he entered the RAC Rally in 1987, at the wheel of a Vauxhall Astra GSI. The experience was an eye-opener, especially for his terrified co-driver Mike Nicholson. He retired from the event, but came back a year later and finished a respectable, if unspectacular 29th overall.

Seemingly much more at home in a rally car, F1 driver Derek Warwick had a go in a full-spec Group A Subaru Legacy a couple of years. His stage times were pretty impressive for a man with no previous experience of a top-level WRC machine, though he too found staying on course was too much and crashed out on the second day. Sadly, he never came back for a second attempt.

A number of retired F1 drivers have had a crack at rallying on a less serious basis, as it would appear Robert Kubica is inclined to do. Mika Hakkinen has tried his hands at snow rallying at the wheel of a Mitsubishi Lancer, competing in the Arctic Rally of 2003, while Jean Alesi actually won the Monza Rally in a Subaru Impreza a few years back.

However, far and away the most successful of crossover drivers in recent years was former Minardi driver Stephane Sarrazin. Sarrazin made only one start for the Faenza team, standing in for an injured Luca Badoer. After his F1 career failed to take off, however, he switched to rallying, and eventually earned a works drive with the Subaru rally team. To be fair, he was only in a full works car for the tarmac events, but the difference between tarmac rallying and circuit racing is nonetheless fairly immense.

His career as a rally driver never quite came off - he was quick, but not quite so quick as to retain his works drive. Nonetheless, his fourth place on the Tour de Corsica rally of 2004 still ranks as far and away the best result in several decades for a circuit racer on a World Championship Rally. He now makes his living in the Le Mans Series, where he recently won the Monza 1000kms for Peugeot.

So far, I have concentrated on racing drivers who have tried their hands at the special stages. I could equally have focused on rally drivers who have had a go at circuit racing. Sebastien Loeb, for example, was genuinely quick at the wheel of a Pescarolo Sports Car at Le Mans a couple of years back. Walter Rohrl spent a whole season at the wheel of an IMSA Audi over in the States and certainly didn't disgrace himself.

Perhaps the most remarkable character, however, is 1960s race and rally driver, Vic Elford. Unlike the other drivers I have mentioned, it is hard to categorise him either as a circuit racer who tried his hand at rallying, or as a rally driver who had a go at circuit racing. Elford was competing full time in F1 in 1968, the same year that he won the Monte Carlo Rally at the wheel of a Porsche. A true all-rounder, he also won the Daytona 24 Hour sportscar race that year for Porsche (just a week later) and would pick up wins in the Sebring 12 Hours and several 1000km sportscar races. He even won the first ever Rallycross event, at Lydden Hill, in 1967. A remarkable character, who has recently published his third book, Reflections on a Golden Era of Motorsport Something for Robert Kubica to aim at, perhaps...