The Mediterranean island event is characterised usually by high temperatures and rough sun-baked gravel roads, but this year’s edition was marked by scattered rain showers and thunderstorms that created numerous challenges for the drivers.

Not nominated to score manufacturer points for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team on this round, Katsuta and co-driver Aaron Johnston were nonetheless looking to build on some promising pace on the previous rally in Portugal.

They made a fantastic start in that regard, following a fourth-fastest time in Thursday night’s super special stage in Olbia with a similar performance in the first proper test on Friday morning. They then went quickest of all through the classic Terranova stage, moving them up to third overall. After a brief overshoot in the Monte Lerno stage – extended this year to almost 50 kilometres in length – Katsuta would end Friday in fifth place.

Unfortunately, he would be forced to stop following Saturday’s opening stage. With the unusually heavy rainfall, deep watersplashes caught out several drivers across the day and the front of Katsuta’s car sustained significant damage in a big impact at the end of SS8, which could not be repaired fully on the road section.

TGR-WRT mechanics were able to fix the car ready for Katsuta to restart on Sunday and he once again showed his pace, claiming a second stage win of the weekend in the penultimate test and setting the third-best time in the rally-ending Power Stage.

Quotes:
Takamoto Katsuta:“Our pace was good from the start on Friday morning: we did a good run in the second stage and it was nice to be fastest. Then the long stage was very difficult and slippery, I did an overshoot and we were quite lucky that we could continue after that. Unfortunately in SS8 I had the wrong approach for the watersplash; it was especially deep and I came a little too fast and had to brake into the dip, so we got quite a lot of damage and could not continue. It was a big disappointment and I will try to learn from it for the future. When we restarted on Sunday, I again felt very good with the car and I tried to push in the Power Stage. We got some points from there and it was good to finish the weekend like this. I’m looking forward to Kenya and hope we can get another good result there this year.”

Jari-Matti Latvala (Team Principal, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT):“Takamoto showed some good pace this weekend on what was a very challenging rally and we are really happy to see that speed. There were just a couple of small mistakes, which can happen, and it’s something that we will look into and analyse with him and try to improve for the future. We know that he has the speed to fight for the podium and now we just need to try and get the consistency. Again he showed in the Power Stage with the third-fastest time that when he attacks then the speed is there. Now he can look forward to Kenya which we know is one of his favourite events.”