Takamoto Katsuta explained why he was able to make a strong return to WRC Central European Rally after being on the bench. The Japanese driver joined the Toyota series last weekend for the penultimate round of the season, following the Toyota team's surprising decision. leaving its titular driver out of the car for last month's trip to Chile.
The Japanese brand's decision came after the Acropolis Rally, which took place Katsuta's sixth consecutive result outside the Top 5. The 31-year-old says missing the South American event was one of the toughest moments of his racing career, but he quickly managed to put it behind him on the Central European Rally by finishing fourth , with two consecutive victories.
The Japanese staged an impressive comeback under pressure to score the maximum 12 Super Sunday points, take the lead in the day's standings and win the Power Stage. The points haul could prove crucial for Toyota in its fight against Hyundai Motorsport for the title of constructors.
Katsuta believes he couldn't have achieved this without the support he gets from the team and everyone around him. One of the areas he has worked to refine his driving is section annotations, thereby eliminating unnecessary details that can be difficult to process at high speed.
“Before this rally, there was a lot, a lot of pressure. It's been a very difficult time that I've been through over the last few months, and maybe at the start of the season. Of course, last month was the hardest time“, he said. “But I had very strong support from the team and everyone around me. “That’s one of the reasons I was able to come back stronger.”
“My engineers and my teammates, like Kalle Rovanperä, Sébastien Ogier And Elfyn EvansThey called me and sent me messages of support. Of course, it's easy to talk afterwards. It's hard to say [si la decisión de no correr en Chile fue correcta]because it was a very difficult moment. I had time to think a lot and I was able to concentrate and get the job done,” he continued.
Toyota Team Leader Jari-Matti Latvala, described Katsuta's performance at the Central European Rally as 'superb'as their points haul on Sunday helped the brand in its fight for the constructors' title after Ogier was ruled out of the battle for victory.
“I have to thank Taka. He had a great performance, and it was also a really good performance from Elfyn Evans [tercero], They both saved us in that situation and we are still fighting for the constructors' championship.“Latvala commented at Motorsport.com.
“Taka was really superb, and On Thursday there was a lot of pressure and I was quite nervous to get back in the car after a month of rest.. “You could see he was a little cautious and then he picked up speed and had the best time, but when it was difficult he took it easy.”
“He was growing, and that's exactly the path we want him to take, because we know his speed.but the problem is that before I was trying to increase the speed too quickly, and now I was doing it gradually. It was starting to feel natural,” he concluded.
