Borkovic exits WTCC after Proteam Racing split

Du?an Borkovi has pulled out of the remainder of the World Touring Car Championship after major disagreements with his Proteam Racing Honda squad.

The Serbian driver switched from Campos Racing Chevrolet to Proteam over the winter but has struggled to adapt to his new team. The 30-year-old has found it difficult to fit his 6ft 9in frame into the Honda Civic machine and says it is not safe to drive.

Borkovi ran in the free practice sessions and qualifying for the second round of the WTCC season at Marrakech but pulled out of both races at the last minute.

A team statement read: "Du?an had to make a hard decision with his team not to drive for safety reasons. The narrow seat continued to be a huge problem and was cutting his circulation off. His leg was going numb and it was impossible to be concentrated on the driving 100 per cent.

"He pushed to the very limit, but the risk of driving the car in this state was too big and luckily Du?an managed to avoid crashing each time his car lost control."

Borkovi's also suffered a personal tragedy after his father passed away a week before the WTCC Race of Morocco and the Serbian says he tried to return to racing too soon.

"It may have been a wrong decision to compete in Morocco so soon after my father's death," Borkovi said. "I wanted to continue for him but I am not 100 per cent focused and it is really hard for me to deal with these ridiculous issues at this moment.

"The car in this state was not safe for me to drive, I didn't want to cause problems for myself or other drivers."

The WTCC driver has not confirmed whether he plans to return to the series but is expected to be absent for the foreseeable future.

Proteam Racing will look for a replacement for Borkovi in the coming weeks and an announcement is anticipated ahead of round three at Hungaroring scheduled for the 2-3 May.