Katsuta finished second in Jyväskylä, his former hometown, just over half a minute behind his teammate and close friend Kalle Rovanperä, who won the rally.
With this result, Katsuta equalled his career-best WRC finish. He also placed second earlier this season at Rally Sweden in February.
“It’s been a very stressful and frustrating season. After Sweden, I had the speed — that was clear — but I couldn’t bring the result with the speed. So I was really frustrated about it. And yeah, here, actually, I was using my speed, but not really, let’s say, fully using it. Sometimes I was backing off, taking it easy and not taking too much risk on these roads,” Katsuta said after Rally Finland.
“Of course, if you want to win, you need to go flat out everywhere. But still, I was able to manage the situations, and in the end, that brought me this result. So yeah, it was quite a tough weekend, and nice to get this kind of prize,” he smiled.
This season has brought many difficulties for Katsuta, but in Finland, he found pace right from the start.
“In this rally I felt like I had quite good speed and I was quite confident. I was able to decide that now it’s not the time to push — even to sacrifice a bit of time. That was really a bit stressful sometimes, because the gaps between all of us were so small. I wasn’t always sure, like, did I make the right decision or not? But I think this result — being here — shows I did,” the Japanese driver explained.
After the rally, Katsuta also made a dramatic revelation. With recent results trending in the wrong direction, Rally Finland was a major moment of truth for him.
“I think I had more pressure than in any other rally ever. Result-wise and speed-wise, I had to show something. I had to bring something — this kind of pressure I had. But like I said, I like pressure, and it worked well,” Katsuta admitted.
He also revealed that he and Rovanperä had made a promise before the rally: that both of them would be on the podium on Sunday. Sharing the podium with his good friend was, of course, a moment to remember for Katsuta. He is a well-liked driver in Finland and received strong support throughout the weekend.
“It’s amazing. I really appreciated the Finnish fans — there were a lot of them. And also many Japanese fans as well. I could hear a lot of cheering from them, and I was really happy to hear that,” Katsuta said.
“And yeah, I’m very, very happy for Kalle as well — that he finally made it here. I don’t know why he’s had so much bad luck in Finland every year, but I’m super, super happy to share this position and this kind of moment with Kalle,” he added.
