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Marcus Zukanovic is planning to return to Gulf Western Oils Touring Car Masters this year, after a lengthy injury layoff.
Zukanovic sustained a broken leg in a non-motorsport-related incident mid-last year.
Since then, the 42-year-old has undertaken rehabilitation and has recently been given clearance to return to motorsport.
The Ford XD Falcon driver is targeting a return to TCM at AWC Race Tasmania, Symmons Plains Raceway, on February 24-26.
“The body is in good shape and I have an okay from my surgeon to get back behind the wheel, so things are looking pretty good,” Zukanovic said.
“I’ve explained the process to him, explained that I’ll be left-foot braking and everything about what I am doing and he has given it the green light.
“He said ‘You know your body, you know yourself and what to do’ and to not put myself in a situation where I can aggravate the injury, which I don’t want to do.
“We’re going to test next week to make sure I can get through the test day and the left foot braking goes okay, and if that all checks out we’ll be at Round 1.
“It’s been tough sitting on the sidelines and I’m pretty fired up to get back out there.”
The Victorian’s return to motorsport comes eight months after his last outing at Sydney Motorsport Park and in his fifth season of TCM.
“Going to Tassie and then having Newcastle two weeks later means it’s a busy start and they’re both tough tracks,” Zukanovic added.
“Symmons is hard on braking and Newcastle is just a tough street circuit, so we’ll be pretty conservative to get through both.
“If we can score some points, finish the races, then there’s several months to continue the rehab and get ready for the next round in June, where we’ll be able to go a bit harder.
“I’m in a good place and we know the car is good, so we’ll go testing next week to make sure all is okay and go from there.”
Zukanovic has taken part in 51 TCM races, collecting three wins and 13 podium finishes.
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