2016 Training period 7 - SM-Ralli Turku
Toyota GAZOO Racing Rally Challenge Program is well underway in Finland, led by Tommi Mäkinen. Two young Japanese drivers, Takamoto Katsuta and Hiroki Arai competed in SM-Ralli Turku, the 5th round of the Finnish Rally Championship, held on 19-20 August 2016.
Training Objectives
Katsuta and Arai participate in SM-Ralli Turku for the second time since last year. Main target is to quickly find good driving rythm in this short and fast rally and to deepen pacenotes understanding.
Schedule
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- 17 Aug.
- Driving training/testing(Rantakyläntie, Hauhanpohja)
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- 18 Aug.
- Pacenote training, rally preparation
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- 19 Aug.
- SM-Ralli Turku (Recce, SS1-SS3)
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- 20 Aug.
- SM-Ralli Turku (SS4-SS6)
17 Aug. - 18 Aug. Driving and pacenote training
Driving training and testing took place using two stages; Rantakylantie which was a part of SS Lempää in Rally Finland and Hauhanpohja which is a fast stage with long corners. The aim was to find good setups for the cars. Both driver also tested two different tires to find the best solution for the upcoming rally. Mikko Hirvonen joined the pacenote training and gave advices to drivers how to improve their pacenoting.
19 Aug. - 20 Aug. SM-Ralli Turku
It was Katsuta and Arai's second challenge to SM Ralli Turku, as they made their debut in Finland in the same rally last year. It was a gravel rally driven in dry summer conditions in Western Finland.
Hiroki Arai and co-driver Glenn Macneall finished 7th in their class, and Takamoto Katsuta, with his co-driver Daniel Barritt, ended up 10th. Both crews competed with Ford Fiesta R5’s in the SM1 class.
Arai drove the entire rally matching the pace of the leaders. The differences were really small, and Arai even set the fastest time in his class on SS7. On the final stage his driving was hampered with a technical problem, as the anti-roll bar snapped mid-way through SS8 and made the car unstable. The problem couldn’t be fixed for the final stage, SS9, and Arai dropped from 6th place to 7th. He finished 34.3 seconds behind the class winners.
Takamoto Katsuta in turn drove a steady rally, putting the things he has learned into good use. Katsuta finished 10th place, 1 min 02.8 seconds behind the winners, so he wasn’t totally happy with his speed. However, thanks to his level-headed and moderate driving he reached his goal of finishing the rally. The biggest challenge for Katsuta, who has a lot of experience from circuit racing, has been reconnaissance and pacenote-making – and now he has really started to get a hang of it.
Jouni Ampuja, the chief instructor, was pleased with the result: “From a coaching point of view the rally went well. Time differences were really small throughout the class, so this was exactly the type of competition that teaches our drivers how success can depend on very small things indeed. This event also proved that our coaching programme really works, so we will continue with the same methods and focus on them even more closely.”
Their next rally, Pirelli Rally, is the final event in the Finnish Rally Championship calendar this season.
Driver's diary
![Hiroki Arai](/pages/contents/jp/challengeprogram_rally/report/2016/07/images/report_daily_hiroki.png)
- Objectives
- To get the car to the finish line for sure by keeping consistent driving (as I had continuous DNFs including mechanical problems)
- What I felt through the rally
- Turku was especially a high-speed rally among Finnish National Championship. There were some loose gravel and it was quite tough because we had to drive after 2WD cars and driving lines were not ideal for 4WD cars.
- What I learned
- After recce, I and my co-driver Glenn analyzed in which stage we can reduce the time. Earlier stages were tough due to the loose gravel and 2WDs driving line, but I thought there was a chance to catch up in later stages. I actually got the fastest time in SS7 and moved up my position. It was unfortunate that the anti-roll bar snapped in SS8 and I had to slow down for the rest of the stages, but I'm satisfied because I could complete the rally. I could keep constant driving as I planned before the rally, and I want to even strengthen the stability in my driving.
![Takamoto Katsuta](/pages/contents/jp/challengeprogram_rally/report/2016/07/images/report_daily_takamoto.png)
- Objectives
- To finish the rally and improve my pacenotes
To learn smooth and effective driving while taking enough margin
- What I felt through the rally
- The roads were fast, and at some stages the average speed exceeded 130kph, but making pacenotes for them was easier as there were not so many jumps and bends. Pacenote making and listening in night stages gave me a good training.It was very difficult to judge the braking points at the tight corners on high speed section.
- What I learned
- During recce I tried to adjust corner angles based on what I learned in Rally Finland and it worked well. Having completed all stages, I could get some hints to improve my pacenotes. As the rally progressed my mistakes got less and driving became smooth, and I could close the gap between top drivers without pushing at all. It gave me big confidence for the future. I want to move forward to the next step keeping this feeling and challenging attitude in mind.
- Chief instructor
Jouni Ampuja
During recce Katsuta and Arai worked faster with much more confidence compared with the past. We could see that the experience they gained in Rally Finland really helped them. Arai was able to describe the long corners and Katsuta had a better and more logical scale when describing the corners.
The competition in this rally was really tight and the time gaps were very small between the drivers. Both drivers were able to analyze car setups and their driving. It’s good to see that they understand the important things to improve their level. The drivers have been able to cut a lot of the time gap to the leading drivers. In overall we feel it was the most solid and controlled rally for both of them so far.
Upcoming event is "Pirelli Ralli" in Tampere on 23-24 September - the final round of Finnish Rally Championship!
Link
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2016 Training period 1 - Arctic Lapland Rally
During two days the route covered 829 kilometres, 233 of which were special stages driven at maximum speeds. -
2016 Training period 2 - SM Vaakuna Ralli
Toyota GAZOO Racing Rally Challenge Program is well underway in Finland. So far the drivers of the program, lead by Tommi Makinen, have competed in two events: the Arctic Lapland Rally and SM Vaakuna Ralli, driven in Mikkeli 26 - 27 February. -
2016 Training period 3 - Tahko SM-Ralli
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Rally Challenge Program is well underway in Finland, led by Tommi Makinen. Through the program the two young Japanese drivers, Takamoto Katsuta and Hiroki Arai competed in Tahko SM-Ralli held on 11 - 12 March. -
2016 Training period 4 - Enset Oy SM-Ralli
Toyota GAZOO Racing Rally Challenge Program is well underway in Finland, led by Tommi Makinen. Through the program the two young Japanese drivers, Takamoto Katsuta and Hiroki Arai competed in Enset Oy SM-Ralli held on 11 June, 2016. -
2016 Training period 5 - ERC 6th round, auto24 Rally Estonia
Toyota GAZOO Racing Rally Challenge Program is well underway in Finland, led by Tommi Makinen. Two young Japanese drivers, Takamoto Katsuta and Hiroki Arai made their first entry into the FIA European Rally Championship, auto24 Rally Estonia. -
2016 Training period 6 - WRC 8th round, Neste Rally Finland
Toyota GAZOO Racing Rally Challenge Program is well underway in Finland, led by Tommi Makinen. Two young Japanese drivers, Takamoto Katsuta and Hiroki Arai made their first entry into the FIA World Rally Championship, Neste Rally Finland.