Kangur in late car change after testing crash

Martin Kangur will make his long-awaited return to the IRC 2WD Cup on Targa Florio Rally Internazionale Di Sicilia this week despite a testing crash forcing him into a late change of cars.

Rising Estonian star Kangur will still be at the wheel of a Honda Civic Type R, albeit in the machine he uses in his domestic championship rather than the latest-specification JAS Motorsport car that he damaged in testing.

“On the fast track where we were testing last week, I slipped off the road and damaged the car,” explained Kangur. “The team tried to fix it but in the end we decided to use the Civic Type R I drive in the Estonian championship. The technicians changed the engine and the gearbox but, because we only drive on gravel in Estonia, we needed to adapt a lot of things to get the car ready for the Sicilian asphalt. It will be a race against the clock to get it sorted in time for the start in Palermo. And of course after that, we have to rush to Belgium and get the car ready for the Geko Ypres Rally. It’ll be tight, but we have a great team behind us who are up for the challenge.”

Honda won the IRC 2WD Cup manufacturers’ title for the first time in 2011. Kangur is one of the favourite for category honours in Sicily, despite his absence of stage knowledge.