Takamoto Katsuta and co-driver Aaron Johnston have been taken to hospital for “precautionary checks” following a high-speed crash which forced the cancellation of SS21 at Rally del Paraguay.
While the crew both walked away from their second significant crash of the event, they were taken by ambulance to be checked.
Traversing a fast left-right combination corner, Katsuta oversteered through entry and impacted the side of the road, rolling his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 over and landing on its side.
The stage was immediately red-flagged and later cancelled, with spectators eventually pushing the stricken Yaris back onto its wheels.
“They are both OK,” said Toyota deupty team principal Juha Kankkunen.
Katsuta's hopes of challenging for the 2026 title are effectively over with a Paraguay no-score
“The car is completely damaged. But it looked quite strange because it was quite a fast left-to-right hander; he a little bit maybe stepped outside with the rear and the front hit the small roll on the inside, which kicked him to two wheels. There was no space to do anything else.”
A short 10.21km powerstage remains to complete the Rally del Paraguay itinerary. Sami Pajari leads by 26.1s over Hayden Paddon, with Adrien Fourmaux competing the podium positions 3.8s ahead of World Rally Championship points leader Elfyn Evans.
Jon Armstrong retired with accident damage of the previous stage, losing seventh place. His M-Sport team-mate Josh McErlean in sixth overall is struggling with technical issues and has fallen well adrift of fifth-placed Oliver Solberg.
