In this week’s Rally Latvia, the Japanese driver can race without pressure, as he doesn’t need to compete for team points. Sebastien Ogier and Kalle Rovanperä are in action for those, with Welsh driver Elfyn Evans as the third competitor for team points.
Katsuta has competed in Latvia once before, in 2015. However, that race ended disastrously when he had a severe crash in his Subaru on the final stage. The car hit an inside bank while cresting a left-hand bump and rolled violently into a tree.
“It’s going to be nice to go back to Latvia. My biggest memory from my last rally there is of probably the biggest crash of my career. It was one of my first ever rallies in Europe, so it was a long time ago and it will be a completely different story now,” Katsuta says.
“It’s going to be a totally new rally for most of the drivers, including myself, and I want to set a high target for the weekend.”
Watch below how Katsuta crashed into a tree in the Rally Latvia nine years ago.
In the previous fast gravel rally in Poland, Katsuta’s pace was missing. However, the Japanese driver hopes to be on point this time.
“It will be a similarly fast rally to Poland and I want to take the positives from there onto Latvia,” Katsuta reflects.
“We need to prepare as well as we can and I’ve been looking at everything together with the team to improve and be better there.”
The Rally Latvia starts on Thursday morning with a shakedown. The competition features a total of 20 special stages, covering approximately 300 kilometres.
