Katsuta has had a challenging season, having to sit out the Rally Chile. Now back in the driver’s seat, he’s aiming to turn his season around in these final stages.
Katsuta feels that the short break has been beneficial.
“I had such big support from all the engineers, and they really worked and walked me through everything. They said they believed in me a lot, so I’m trying to do a good job. They gave me a lot of tips, and that gave me a different kind of confidence and feeling. I really appreciate all their support and what they did for me,” Katsuta said just before the Central European rally.
Katsuta now knows exactly what he needs to change.
“I don’t need to change anything completely because the speed is just increasing all the time. I just need to avoid one mistake, which is difficult. Probably step by step, I need to bring the confidence and feeling back, even if it means sacrificing a bit of speed. When I decide to push, I have speed. I was pushing quite a lot of stages, but then I made a small mistake, and then your game is over. It’s a shame when, at the beginning of the rally, you make a mistake and are out of the fight,” Katsuta explained.
“Maybe I’ll try to be more steady at the beginning of the rally for sure. Probably losing a bit of time sometimes, but just accepting this and seeing how it goes,” Katsuta continued.
Toyota’s team principal, Jari-Matti Latvala, has mentioned that Katsuta has also been working on his pace notes. According to Latvala, Katsuta’s notes often contained too much information, which made it difficult for him to focus on the main task – driving.
“For sure, we did a bit more to make it simple,” Katsuta shared.
This simple change has made driving easier for the Japanese driver.
“It’s nicer without a lot of information. I mean, sometimes you need information as well, so it’s hard to make. But it was quite good timing, like this one month, to practice and prepare with the new personal information,” Katsuta said.
