WRC
Last-stage twist sends Katsuta to Croatia Rally win
Takamoto Katsuta snatched a dramatic Croatia Rally victory on Sunday after Hyundai rival Thierry Neuville crashed out on the Wolf Power Stage.
Neuville had looked set to seal Hyundai’s first win of the season, carrying a lead of more than one minute into the final test. But the Belgian’s hopes were shattered when he struck a concrete block and damaged the front-right suspension of his i20 N Rally1, ending his charge just kilometres from the finish.
That left Katsuta and co-driver Aaron Johnston to claim a second successive FIA World Rally Championship win, backing up their breakthrough success at Safari Rally Kenya with another big result - this time on asphalt.
Katsuta Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate Sami Pajari was promoted to second, 20.7sec behind, while Hayden Paddon completed the podium on his first Croatia Rally start and only his second outing of the season.
For much of the day, the result had seemed settled. Neuville started Sunday with a 1min 14.5sec advantage, while Katsuta’s task was simply to secure second and bank the points. Pajari, meanwhile, was left trying to salvage what he could after losing the lead with a puncture on SS14.
Katsuta completed the rally with the fifth fastest time on the Power Stage, appearing set to settle for runner-up. But behind him, Neuville’s rally unravelled when he ran into trouble and was forced to stop, handing victory to the Toyota driver in extraordinary fashion.
© WRC
It was a cruel end for Neuville, who had driven one of his strongest rallies in recent memory and appeared to have done everything required to convert Saturday’s lead into victory.
For Katsuta, however, it marked another major step forward. The result lifts him to the top of the drivers’ championship on 84 points, five ahead of Elfyn Evans, with Oliver Solberg third on 68. Toyota also strengthened its hold on the manufacturers’ standings, moving to 206 points against Hyundai’s 141.
Pajari’s second place ensured a third consecutive podium for the Finn, but it was a bittersweet reward after a rally he had looked capable of winning outright. He had led from Friday morning until Saturday afternoon, only for a puncture on the second pass through Generalski Stol – Zdihovo to cost more than two minutes and knock him out of contention.
“Anyway, it is always positive when you can finish on the podium,” said Pajari. “I need to be happy for that, but at the same time I feel disappointed. The win was in our hands for a long time before it was taken away.”
© Rally.TV
Paddon, meanwhile, delivered one of the standout drives of the weekend. The New Zealander kept his nose clean while others hit trouble and was rewarded with third place, his first podium since Rally Australia in 2018.
“A result is a result,” said Paddon. “We have done it by being a bit technical and having wisdom and being smart.”
Elsewhere, Oliver Solberg continued to underline what might have been. After his SS1 crash on Friday, the Swede dominated the timing screens, winning the Super Sunday classification by 13.1sec from Evans. M-Sport Ford’s Jon Armstrong also impressed again on asphalt, ending Super Sunday third.
In WRC2, Yohan Rossel sealed a landmark victory for Lancia, giving the Ypsilon HF Rally2 its first win in the category. Rossel finished fourth overall, ahead of brother Léo Rossel and Nikolay Gryazin, in a result that also marked Lancia’s first top-five overall finish on a WRC round since 1994.
The WRC remains on asphalt for Rally Islas Canarias later this month. The event is based on Gran Canaria and takes place from 23 - 26 April.
