Katsuta’s season has been nothing short of eventful. The Japanese driver finished second at the Safari Rally in Kenya in March, but he faced multiple setbacks over the summer.
After retiring from both the Rally Finland and Rally Greece, Toyota decided that Katsuta would sit out the Rally Chile. He returned, determined, to Toyota’s Rally1 car at the Central European Rally in October, where he performed brilliantly.
According to Katsuta, late summer was one of the lowest points in his career, but he was fortunate to have a solid support network.
“For sure, it was such a difficult moment that I have had over this last month. But obviously I had really strong support from the team and all the people around me, so this is one of the reasons why I was able to come back stronger,” Katsuta said on the official WRC website.
“There has been massive support by the engineers and my team-mates, all of them – Kalle (Rovanperä), ‘Seb‘ (Sebastien Ogier) and Elfyn (Evans) – all calling and messaging me.”
Katsuta’s support wasn’t limited to just his Toyota teammates.
“Even from outside the team there were some drivers calling me and I am really appreciative of all of them.”
While Katsuta’s “benching” seemed to have a positive impact, it may also have some negative consequences for his career.
“I don’t know if it was the right decision or not, because I missed one rally and it might cost a bit in the future. If we have the same stages next year, then it’s a bit of a disadvantage also,” Katsuta acknowledged.
“We are here now, we came back stronger and I had time to think a lot. For sure, it was not the wrong decision, but I just can say that it was not really an easy moment.”
Katsuta’s excellent performance at the Central European tarmac rally was extremely valuable to Toyota, who is still trying to challenge Hyundai for the manufacturers’ title. Hyundai holds a 15-point lead over Toyota in the title race ahead of the season-ending Rally Japan.
A strong performance is also expected from Katsuta in his home rally.
“I will try to do my best in Japan. This is one of my targets, and, for sure, they will be tricky conditions. You never know what is going to happen, but we will still continue to do our best and never give up,” Katsuta promised.
