TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Rally Challenge Program
TOYOTA accelerates the 2019 activities
Takamoto Katsuta to compete in WRC class with Yaris WRC
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing is accelerating the 2019 activities of the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Rally Challenge Program, which supports young drivers competing in the tough global arena of rallying.
As the 2019 season reaches the half-way mark, Takamoto Katsuta has so far competed on seven rounds in the WRC2 class of the FIA World Rally Championship with an R5 car, claiming one victory, on Rally Chile. In addition, he scored two wins from two starts in the Finnish championship with the Yaris WRC, and has been steadily improving himself.
Considering Katsuta’s growth in the first half of this season, the planned activity for the second half of the season has been revised. He will join the top category with a Yaris WRC in round 10, Rally Germany, and round 13, Rally Spain, with the goal of continuing his growth as a WRC driver. Contesting these two WRC events in the top class as part of his training, Takamoto Katsuta is contributing towards the final aim of Toyota in its challenge to develop a Japanese WRC driver.
■Takamoto Katsuta
First of all, I would like to thank everyone who has supported me. Since I switched to rallying four years ago, I have worked hard to be world rally champion in the future. There have been many good moments, but also frustrating ones. Now, I can take a big step forward with support from many people around me.
However, I have not yet reached my end goal: I'm just standing on the start line. I am gaining valuable experience step-by-step in the Yaris WRC. I will develop myself consistently, rally-by-rally, to fight in the top category in the near future. I still have so much to do to make my dream come true, but I am sure I can make it. Thank you in advance for your strong support.
■2019 Schedule ＊The Schedule below is subject to change.
| Dates | Event | Class | Vehicle |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12-14 July | Rally Estonia(Promotional Event) | - | Ford Fiesta R5 |
| 1-4 August | Rally Finland | WRC2 | Ford Fiesta R5 |
| 22-25 August | Rally Germany | WRC | Yaris WRC |
| 3-6 October | Rally GB | WRC2 | Ford Fiesta R5 |
| 24-27 October | Rally Spain | WRC | Yaris WRC |
■2019 Results
1) FIA World Rally Championship, WRC2（Vehicle：Ford Fiest R5）
| Dates | Event | Results | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rd.1 | 24-27 January | Rally Monte Carlo | Ice/Snow/Tarmac | 6th |
| Rd.2 | 14-17 February | Rally Sweden | Snow | DNF |
| Rd.4 | 28-31 March | Rally France | Tarmac | 4th |
| Rd.5 | 25-28 April | Rally Argentina | Gravel | 5th |
| Rd.6 | 9-12 May | Rally Chile | Gravel | 1st |
| Rd.7 | 30 May – 2 June | Rally Portugal | Gravel | 13th |
| Rd.8 | 13-16 June | Rally Italy | Gravel | DNF |
2) Rally Finland Championship（Vehicle：Yaris WRC）
| Dates | Event | Results | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-2 March | SM Itäralli, Rd.3 | Snow | 1st |
| 24-25 May | SM Riihimäki rally, Rd.4 | Gravel | 1st |
Rally Chile
SM Riihimäki rally
■Driver Profile
Takamoto Katsuta
Born in Aichi, Japan on March 17, 1993. Katsuta drove in his first kart race at the age of 12 and at age 18 he won the Formula Challenge Japan (FCJ). He placed second in the F3 series at age 20, and since 2014 he has competed in F3 in addition to notching his first JN5 class win in the eighth round of the Japanese Rally Championship. In the seventh round of the 2017 FIA World Rally Championship (Italy), he took his first podium by finishing third in the WRC2 class. In 2018 he won Rally Sweden, the second round of FIA World Rally Championship in the WRC2 class. In 2019 he won Rally Chile, the sixth round of FIA World Rally Championship in the WRC2 class, and he made two wins in Finnish Rally Championship with Yaris WRC.
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TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Rally Challenge Program is supported by following partners.
■Tommi Mäkinen（Program Supervisor）
Takamoto has made some big steps already this year. In his WRC2 program, he has shown very good progress with his driving and his consistency. He also handled his first rallies in the Yaris WRC in the Finnish championship very well. Because of this, we are sure that he is ready to make the next step up already. We waited to finalise his programme for the end of the season, to see how he was progressing, and it is great that we can already add these two events in a World Rally Car in the world championship. We know that these will be very challenging rallies – Takamoto has no experience of competing in Germany, and Spain is tough as it’s a mixed-surface event. So we are not setting any targets in terms of results: the main priority will be for him to continue learning and to develop his driving.