After running wide at EKO Acropolis Rally
Greece in September and losing a wheel from his GR Yaris Rally1 HYBRID - his
second such mishap in as many events - Katsuta was benched for the Chilean leg
of the championship.
The Japanese ace made a strong comeback at
Central European Rally last month, finishing an impressive fourth overall as
well as securing maximum points on Super Sunday to aid Toyota’s manufacturers’
title charge.
Speaking after round 12, where he claimed a
total of three stage wins, Katsuta revealed how his team-mates and peers came
to his aid at what he described as one of the lowest points of his career.
“For sure, it was such a difficult moment
that I have had over this last month,” he said. “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.
“There has been massive support by the
engineers and my team-mates, all of them – Kalle [Rovanperä], Seb [Ogier] and
Elfyn [Evans] – all calling and messaging me and, yeah, big, big support.
“Even from outside the team there were some
drivers calling me and I am really appreciative of all of them.”
While Katsuta was grateful to have time to
reflect and reprepare, he acknowledged that missing Chile – which is back on
the calendar for 2025 – may have future consequences.
“I don’t know if it was the right decision
or not,” he mused, “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.
“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.”
FORUM8 Rally Japan, Katsuta’s home round,
presents him with the perfect opportunity to end the season on a high. He
displayed rally-winning pace on the asphalt fixture in 2023 and won 10 stages, but
ultimately finished fifth after a costly spin on day one.
“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.”
Japan
Poland
Turkey