Katsuta arrived in South America on the back of an excellent result at Rally Finland in early August, where he equalled his career-best finish by taking second place. He had every chance to shine again in the WRC’s newest event, but his run was cut short already on Friday.
The Japanese driver slid slightly wide, causing the rear of his car to slam hard into a bank. Katsuta had no choice but to retire for the day on the penultimate stage.
“Afternoon went very well until stage seven. Stage five and six we were quite on the pace and even not pushing so much, but very clean and nice,” Katsuta said.
“But then stage seven felt good, but in one corner the rear just completely snapped and I was not able to catch it. Then there was an access road on the left side and unfortunately the rear hit the bank by the access road. It was really a big hit.”
Katsuta’s rally had already got off to a difficult start with a puncture on the opening stage. After that he showed good pace, but the afternoon mistake finally destroyed his chances on the Paraguayan gravel.
Nevertheless, Katsuta will continue in the rally on Saturday’s stages, with Toyota’s mechanics working late into the night to repair the car.
“I’m sorry for the team for having to fix the car tonight,” Katsuta apologised.
“I will just try to change my mindset to approach the stages differently for tomorrow and the day after, thinking about the future. This is now my new job to do.”
Rally Paraguay continues on Saturday with seven special stages. Katsuta will act as the so-called road sweeper, running first on the stages.
