Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä was forced to retire, as was Hyundai’s Ott Tänak at the SS4. The withdrawal of two star drivers completely reshuffled the leaderboard, propelling Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta to the forefront.
Conditions on the morning stages were exceedingly challenging, with wet snow falling and visibility being virtually nil in places.
“We have done three stages today, so it’s still going to be very difficult this afternoon. As you see now there is a of snow on this area as well and it’s going to be very, very difficult conditions. So I really need to focus and keep my eyes on for the next stage,” said Katsuta.
The weather varied throughout the morning, alternating between rain and snow, further complicating the drivers’ task.
“First one this morning was not so bad and only visibility was bad because of some small fog. But then on the second one started to snow a lot and you can’t see any lines. Snow is making corners a bit narrower and you have no grip,” Katsuta explained.
“I saw also that guys in front of me have had moments because I saw the bumps and all the parts flying everywhere and the snow banks were gone. So yeah, it was a very difficult situation,” Katsuta continued, referring to Rovanperä and Tänak among others.
Katsuta has led a WRC event once before, during the 2021 Rally Kenya. Katsuta now needs to keep a cool head.
“Probably need calm down a bit so I will stay in the line, otherwise it’s easily over. Probably this afternoon will be most difficult condition in this weekend, so I just really need to sacrifice a bit of the speed. I just need to stay on the road, “Katsuta planned.
Not many would have predicted Katsuta leading at this stage of the rally. The Japanese driver has his own ways of handling this.
“I tried not to think about it too much. I focus on just doing my own thing,” Katsuta said decisively.
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