Wittmann back in action with practice rally

Franz Wittmann will get some useful practice ahead of his next Intercontinental Rally Challenge event when he enters the German Rally Championship-counting Hessen Rallye Vogelsberg this weekend (16-17 April).

Wittmann, from Austria, has been out of action since Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo in January after electing to skip the IRC double header in South America in March in order to concentrate his efforts on the European rounds of the series.

He said entering the Hessen Rallye Vogelsberg would provide an ideal opportunity to reacquaint himself with his Interwetten Racing Peugeot 207 Super 2000 and co-driver Klaus Wicha ahead of his planned participation on Rally Islas Canarias, round four of the IRC, later this month.

"Doing this rally is a great chance to overcome my lack of recent experience and kilometres," said Wittmann, 26. "We’re doing it purely as a test so we don’t care about the result. It’s also a great opportunity to try the car and do some different things with the differentials and tyres. But really I can’t wait to get back to the IRC and to the great competition."