Trying his hand at Danish touring carsWorld Rally Championship star Markko Märtin is the latest addition to the quality field of the Danish Touringcar Championship, after the Estonian earlier today struck a deal with Hartmann Honda Racing to race one of its two Honda Accord Euro-R in the series. He thus boast an already strong 2006 line-up already featuring Champ Car driver Ronnie Bremer and former Grand Prix driver Jan Magnussen.

The Estonian has been out of action since the tragic Rally of Great Britain last September, but has for a time shown a keen interest in the Danish tin-tops series. Friend and long-time gravel pilot Henrik Lundgaard is one of the top drivers of the series, which Markko Märtin experienced live for the first time in the October final at Jyllandsringen, and it was his ex-rival who guided him into the series.

"I got a contact with Lundgaard at a time, when I had ordered a new car, but did not have a confirmed driver,” team owner and original driver Hans Hartmann explains. “Eventually we struck a deal with a driver, but after that Markko was still very keen on driving. We got in touch with our car supplier, JAS Engineering, but it was a problem getting a third car ready, so instead I have decided to take 2006 as a sabbatical from the DTC series and put Markko into the seat instead!”

The Danish Touringcar Championship looks again like bolstering a bumper entry for the 2006 edition of the series. With Markko Märtin a total of 25 drivers split over 17 teams and driving 10 different models of cars will head for the opening round of the series at Jyllandsringen on April 30th.

“I don`t have the slightest doubt that Markko will perform superbly in the series,” Henrik Lundgaard says. “He is able to be fast in anything, and if the team will be working around him, I am sure he will be a top runner.”

Tags: rally,