Katsuta has reached the podium for the third time in his career in Africa, so the event is clearly to the liking of the rally star. In the Rally Sweden in February, Katsuta was in the fight for victory but slipped into the snowbank. In that sense, the result in Kenya was extremely important.
“Of course, I’m happy and happy for the team. Sweden was a huge disappointment. I had such a strong and fast car. I was able to take a pretty good fight with Esapekka, but due to my mistake, everything was over. I was so frustrated with myself,” Katsuta sighed to RallyJournal.com.
“This rally was totally different. Sometimes you need to be flat out, but you also need patience. I learned a lot from last year. Somehow it works well, and it paid off in the end. So yeah, I’m pretty happy. I could still improve, but I’m pretty happy.”
Katsuta has claimed three of his five career podiums in Kenya, so Africa really suits the Japanese driver. What is the reason for his impressive form in Kenya?
“I feel I have a lot of support from the local people personally. And also for Toyota. And that’s one of the things, of course, but also, I don’t know why, but I have such a good vibe here all the time,” Katsuta chuckled.
“You cannot take any good result here without luck. Of course, sometimes bad tracks happen, but most of the time, in the end, everything goes in a positive way in this rally. So I really need to, I don’t know, say thanks to Kenya or something.”
This season marked the first time the rally was held on gravel. For Toyota, the one-two finish was significant, as most of the season’s rallies are run on gravel.
“Kenya and also on the other gravel rallies the most important thing is how reliable the car is. We had no doubts about the car, but this is why we were able to slow down a bit when needed. Then we don’t need to panic because we know that we can still take a beating,” Katsuta said.
