Daniel Barritt says that he does not want to retire from WRC after his back injury and he admits that he is close to his full recovery looking forward to returning to the top level of Word Rally Championship.
The British co-driver was forced to stay out of rallying after his back injury at Rally Estonia where his back was aching after a huge landing.
Therefore, Takamoto Katsuta had to replace Barritt for the upcoming WRC events and Keaton Williams was the first navigator who read the pacenotes for the Toyota driver at Ypres Rally Belgium.
However, Williams had to return home just two days before the start of Acropolis Rally Greece after his having received an emergency call from his family and thus Katsuta withdrew his participation from this event, but eventually the first one decided not to continue for the rest of this season at the top level.
Finally, Katsuta announced Aaron Johnston as his new co-driver for next season as the first one will continue his development programme with Toyota for one more year and it must be mentioned that Johnston navigated Katsuta in Finland and in Spain and he will participate in Monza as well.
So far, Barritt has won one time in his WRC career and he finished eight times in the podium positions while he had been the co-driver of Elfyn Evans when both of them were competing with M-Sport.
"I’m definitely not done with co-driving at that level", Barritt said.
"It’s so, so frustrating that I want to get back in the car, but I’m just not quite there.
"I’d say my fitness is 95 or 96 per cent, but I’ve got to follow the medical advice here and that advice is not to get back in the car just yet.
"As well as that medical stuff, I don’t want to be in the car until I know I’m absolutely 100 per cent.
"If I were to do that, it would be something nagging in the back of my mind a little bit.
"When I’m completely fit, I know I can be right at the top of my game.
"The rest I’ve had has really done me good and I want Daniel version 2.0 to be better than ever when he’s back.
"I’ll be honest, I’m really missing it.
"I’m really missing every aspect of the thing.
"But, this time away from the co-driver’s seat has recharged the batteries and really made me understand how much I love this sport and love my job.
"I fully understand Taka-san’s decision and I’m very grateful for his and the team’s support.
"It goes without saying, he and Aaron can count on my support moving forward".
Source: wrc.com
Photo Credits: Toyota
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