Takamoto Katsuta of Toyota Gazoo Racing seen sitting on some steps while posing for a portrait during the World Rally Championship Estonia in Tartu, Estonia on July 14, 2021.
© Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
WRC
There's a new WRC contender in town and his name is Takamoto Katsuta
Japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta tells David Evans why he's now ready to challenge for regular podium spots in the World Rally Championship.
Напишано од David Evans
се чита за 6 минPublished on
Takamoto Katsuta closed his eyes and took a deep breath. To his left, one step above him, was Sébastien Ogier. And over there, one step below him, 2019 World Rally Champion Ott Tänak. Welcome to the Safari Rally Kenya podium.
Where his telephone was ringing. Answer it? Don’t answer it? This wasn’t exactly the best of moments to be caught on the telephone.
That second place in Naivasha last month was as much about redemption as it was elation and elevation. Just six months before, Katsuta had sat on an ARMCO barrier at Monza and wondered what his future held. The Toyota Yaris WRC he’d been driving sat nearby. Damaged and out of action. Again.
Takamoto Katsuta of team Toyota Gazoo Racing seen performing during the World Rally Championship Kenya in Naivasha, Kenya on June 26, 2021.
Takamoto Katsuta was on the gas in Kenya to secure his best-ever WRC result© Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
The second half of last season was a torrid time for the likeable 28-year-old from Nagoya.
He could see this incredible opportunity for a World Rally Championship career slipping through his fingers. Successive shunts – and big ones – in Estonia and Sardinia pre-empted a silly crash barrier slap at the WRC finale on the Italian circuit in December.
A winter of discontent had truly set in for Katsuta.
2 минTakamoto Katsuta crashes out in EstoniaTakamoto Katsuta's Rally Estonia came to an abrupt end when he rolled his car into a roadside ditch.
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“I was pushing too hard,” he said. “I wanted it so bad to show my speed and my potential. I wanted to show I was ready to make it to the world level.”
He wasn’t ready.
But he is now.
Katsuta’s long been focused on taking on and beating the best in the world with a wheel in his hands. He’s a third generation rally driver, but his route to the stages wasn’t quite so straightforward. It involved an early deviation through karting, Formula Challenge Japan and Formula 3.
“I enjoyed the racing,” he said. “But I knew it would be difficult to make it to the top in racing. I didn’t expect it to be any easier in rallying, but at that time (2014) I heard about a Toyota programme to develop young drivers (Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC Challenge Program). I was interested and, of course, very interested to hear about Toyota coming back to WRC.”
He sought advice from his father, Norihiko. As an eight-time Japanese Rally Champion, Katsuta Sr was worth listening to.
Or not.
Takamoto Katsuta (JPN) and Daniel Barritt (GB) of team Toyota Gazoo Racing are seen performing during the World Rally Championship Kenya in Naivasha, Kenya on 27 June, 2021.
Katsuta's father, Norihiko, was also a rally champion© Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
“My father told me to stay with racing,” said Taka-san. “He knows how difficult it is to go to rallying and he was very happy with me racing. I told him: “No! No, I will go to the rally.”
“You know sons, they don’t always listen to their fathers!”
Katsuta started in the development programme in 2015, but it was hard for him to evolve from aspects of that circuit racing mentality.
“I was always thinking about the speed,” he said. “In that first three years, my focus was on the speed and I was crashing too much. I had to change my mental approach, I had to find a new way.”
Breakthrough came with a class win at Rally Sweden 2018, when he won WRC2.
“I felt I gave something back to the team with this win,” he said. “But also, I feel like I turned a corner. You cannot take any short cuts in rallying, so much of the sport is about the experience – but also for the confidence. After that rally in Sweden, I had more confidence. I was believing in myself.
Takamoto Katsuta (JPN) of team Toyota Gazoo Racing is seen on posing for a portrait during the World Rally Championship Estonia in Tartu, Estonia on 14 July, 2021.
Katsuta is aiming for the very top in WRC© Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
I want to be World Rally Champion. That is the aim for me
Takamoto Katsuta
“I want to be World Rally Champion. That is the aim for me. I was a long way away from that when I started in the sport. I'm a little bit closer now, but I have still more work to do.”
This season couldn’t have provided a bigger turnaround from a troublesome 2020.
Three sixth places followed by a pair of fourths preceded a stunning second on the Safari. By his own admission, the podium came sooner than expected.
“I was thinking about Estonia as the place to challenge for the podium,” he said.
Living in Finland, the super-fast stages either side of the Baltic Sea are where Katsuta has honed his craft.
He added: “Safari was a rally for survival. But I had a team around me with people like Juho [Hänninen] and Jari-Matti Latvala and we make this plan to survive the rally. Tom [Fowler, Toyota technical director] told me he thought there could be a chance for this result. But still, all of the other drivers, they're at such a high level and they have so much more experience than me. But we did it.”
Uhuru Kenyatta, Takamoto Katsuta (JPN) and Daniel Barritt (GB) of team Toyota Gazoo Racing are seen at the World Rally Championship Kenya in Naivasha, Kenya on 27 June, 2021.
Katsuta and Daniel Barritt congratulated by Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta© Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
And the promise for Estonia was delivered as early as the fourth stage, where he went third fastest – beating his more celebrated and experienced team-mates Ogier and Elfyn Evans – to run in a provisional podium position.
Unfortunately, that was as good as it would get for Katsuta on round seven. A heavy landing injured co-driver Dan Barritt’s back, forcing the pair into retirement.
Naturally disappointed, Katsuta’s response speaks volumes about the respect within the #18 Toyota Yaris WRC.
“The first thought was to Dan,” he said. “I wanted to know he was OK. Of course it’s tough when you retire like this, but priority is always the fitness.”
Takamoto Katsuta (JPN) Daniel Barritt (GB) of team Toyota Gazoo Racing are seen performing during the World Rally Championship Estonia in Tartu, Estonia on July 15, 2021.
Things were looking promising for Katsuta in Estonia...© Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Englishman Barritt has been very much front and centre in Katsuta’s progression.
“He helps me a lot,” said Katsuta. “He has so much experience in the sport and so much understanding for what I need. He really helps me in the stages – sometimes if he can sense that the feeling isn’t so natural for me, he will tell me: “Steady, steady…” or something like that.
“As well as that, when we're in the road sections, he’s helping me learn more English words! He's a very, very good guy.”
But now, what about the podium phone call?
“It was a video message,” said Katsuta. “It was from Akio-san.”
Takamoto Katsuta (JPN) and Daniel Barritt (GB) of team Toyota Gazoo Racing are seen performing during the World Rally Championship Kenya in Naivasha, Kenya on 27 June, 2021.
Takamoto Katsuta at the Safari Rally 2021© Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool
Akio-san, in case you weren’t aware, is the president and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation. Basically, the most important man in the world of car making.
What did he want?
“He wanted to tell me 'thank you',” said Katsuta. “But I said, no, Akio-san, I have to thank you and the whole Toyota team. Without you and without this team, I wouldn’t be driving now at this level. This world level.”
The first part of the mission has been accomplished. He’s achieved his dream of driving at a world level. And he’s proved his father wrong.
Japan’s son is very definitely rising in the World Rally Championship.
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