TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC Challenge Program
Power Stage victory at Monza to round out Katsuta’s 2020 season
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC Challenge Program driver Takamoto Katsuta finished the 2020 FIA World Rally Championship in the perfect way by winning the Power Stage at the end of Rally Monza, achieving his maiden stage victory at the highest level of the sport.
Katsuta/Barritt
Based the famous Monza racing circuit close to Milan, the event was a new addition to the WRC calendar for the final round of the season. Sections on the racetrack provided an element of familiarity for Katsuta, who switched to rallying after racing in Formula 3. However, this was combined with sections on gravel and mud, as well as Monza’s historic concrete banking and narrow asphalt service roads. Heavy and near-continuous rain throughout the weekend made the Monza stages particularly challenging. There was also a day of mountain stages, and here the drivers had to deal with snow and rapidly changing conditions. Just like his fellow Toyota Yaris WRC drivers, Katsuta had not competed on asphalt since this year’s visit to Monte Carlo in January over 10 months earlier.
Co-driven by Daniel Barritt, Katsuta was caught out on the rally’s opening stage on Thursday in a short section across wet grass, where he slid wide and made contact with a concrete barrier, preventing him from finishing the stage. But he restarted on Friday morning, and after an understandably cautious start he improved his speed throughout the afternoon. He ended the day with the second fastest time in the ‘Grand Prix’ stage held in darkness, only 0.2s behind a rival who was later penalised 10 seconds for cutting a chicane.
Katsuta made it through Saturday’s treacherous conditions in the mountains without major incident, while drivers with similar lack of experience crashed out. He was then second quickest again on a repeat of the ‘Grand Prix’ test back at Monza – this time only 0.6s from the best time. But it was in Sunday’s Power Stage where Katsuta really made his mark, setting the fastest time by 1.4s over the 2019 world champion.
Jarkko Miettinen (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC Challenge Program instructor):
“We came to Monza hoping for Taka to increase his confidence driving on asphalt in good conditions, but the weather decided differently. After a problematic start, Taka improved his driving well on Friday and showed his best performance yet in the WRC in the evening. This shows he has also become much stronger mentally. Since Friday evening his driving was on a high level in horrible conditions. The fastest time on the Power Stage and five extra points are the crowning of this season. Well done! Taka’s driving skills are already on a top level, but some experience is still needed to deliver top stage times all the time. I am sure after the experience this weekend it is much easier to go into Rallye Monte-Carlo 2021.”
Results:
1 Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Toyota Yaris WRC) 2h15m51.0s
2 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +13.9s
3 Dani Sordo/Carlos del Barrio (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +15.3s
4 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Ford Fiesta WRC) +45.7s
5 Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1m11.1s
20 Takamoto Katsuta/Daniel Barritt (Toyota Yaris WRC) +11m50.3s
Pictures will be uploaded here during the event
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Quotes:
Takamoto Katsuta:
“This weekend there were many things happening and it was not easy, but I think we did quite an OK job after my small mistake on Thursday. I had already lost the chance of a good result for the rally, and it was not so easy to get the confidence back on Friday morning. But with every stage I learned a lot, I could use the experience from the earlier stages and my confidence was coming on more and more. Saturday was very tricky as the weather was changing a lot. It was incredibly slippery and there were many places where you don’t know the grip level, so I was pretty happy to get through it. On Sunday the conditions were still very tough, and I was happy to set the fastest time on the Power Stage. I’m still improving and growing, so hopefully next year I can show more speed and achieve some more results.”