The Safari Rally Kenya has suited Toyota extremely well in recent years. The Japanese manufacturer has even celebrated 1–2–3–4 finishes in Africa, but this year’s edition offered no such joy for Toyota.
Elfyn Evans did win the rally, of course, but for the other Toyota drivers the Safari was far too unforgiving this time.
And it was particularly unforgiving for Takamoto Katsuta. Katsuta had even been benched the previous year due to poor performances, and he therefore faced a major opportunity to prove himself right at the start of the new season.
Katsuta had fought for victory at February’s Rally Sweden, but ultimately had to settle for second on Umeå’s snowy banks as Evans claimed the win. In Kenya, Katsuta was doing a good job until the rug was pulled from under his feet on the final stage.
Katsuta made a driving error and rolled his car. Toyota’s Rally1 car suffered such extensive damage when it landed on its roof that the Japanese driver could only just limp to the finish. In the end, however, retirement was unavoidable.
In the second episode of the second season of the More than Machine series, viewers were shown starkly how heavily the Japanese driver took his retirement. He broke down in inconsolable tears at the rally finish, but received much-needed support from his rivals and team-mates. Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux, among others, went to comfort Katsuta.
Having recovered from the worst of it, Katsuta gave a heart-rending comment to the cameras.
“It’s only about the team. It’s not about me in any way, because I was driving for the team points. I don’t care at all about my own points, only the team points,” Katsuta says before walking away from the cameras.
You can watch the latest episode of More than Machine below:
