Throughout the season, Katsuta has made several mistakes, ultimately landing him on the “bench.” The Japanese driver watched Rally Chile from his couch at home.
However, in the Central European Rally, Katsuta made an impressive comeback. He drove a wise race and capped off a strong weekend by being the fastest driver on Sunday.
Next, Katsuta faces the season’s biggest highlight as the WRC season concludes in late November in his home country of Japan. The home rally has always been special for Katsuta, and he’s performed exceptionally well on Japanese roads in previous years.
“For sure, Japan. I’ll try to do my best. We don’t need to think about the championship – just do our best. This is the only thing we can do,” Katsuta told RallyJournal.com.
“But if all of us do our best job, it’s still possible. It’s going to be very tricky, as we saw last year, so it’s never easy. But it’s a bit easier for me,” Katsuta continued.
Katsuta will also be scoring team points for Toyota in Japan. Given this, there’s a possibility he may even be allowed to compete for victory, which would undoubtedly be a dream come true for him.
“I think if the conditions are similar to last year, I need to be a bit cautious and go step by step. But I feel quite confident with the car. Last year, I was also going well there. So, I need to be clever, but when I need to push, I’m fully confident to push,” Katsuta previewed.
Katsuta’s future in the WRC remains uncertain. So far, Toyota has only announced that Kalle Rovanperä will compete in the full WRC season next year. The status of all other drivers, at least officially, remains undecided.
However, Katsuta has a direct request for Toyota’s team principal, Jari-Matti Latvala.
“hope before the next rally, I’ll have some idea about next year,” Katsuta said.
“The next rally is very important for myself and for the team,” he added.
