Wittmann to keep busy ahead of IRC return

Franz Wittmann plans to stay ‘match fit’ ahead of his next Intercontinental Rally Challenge event by contesting a handful of national rallies in his Interwetten Racing Peugeot 207 S2000.

Wittmann isn’t scheduled to return to the IRC until the fourth round of the series, Rally d’Italia-Sardegna, which will take place from 4-6 June. Before then, however, the 26-year-old and his Romo Motorsporttechnik team hope to gain further knowledge of their Super 2000 machine on selected gravel events.

“It’s a big worry if I don’t drive before Sardinia because I don’t have the experience with my car and still need to get comfortable with it and get the feeling,” said Wittmann. “We are looking at doing some small gravel rallies, possibly in Italy, and we also hope to do some tests.”

Wittmann, from Wels in Austria, will take part on a total of eight IRC events this season alongside experienced German co-driver Klaus Wicha.