Takamoto Katsuta has admitted he feels “very nervous” about making an error that could cost Toyota the manufacturers’ championship at Rally Japan.
Toyota entered the season finale with only one World Rally Championship title still available for it to win: the manufacturers’ crown. With outgoing world champion Kalle Rovanperä absent, the responsibility for erasing Hyundai’s 15-point lead fell to Sébastien Ogier, Elfyn Evans and Katsuta.
After Ogier lost two minutes changing a puncture, Katsuta – who also lost time with a tire off the rim – has found himself in a critical position for Toyota’s title bid, battling Adrien Fourmaux for third place.
Pre-rally anticipation was high over Katsuta’s potential Japan performance, given he won 10 of the 17 full-bore special stages on last year’s edition of the rally. He hasn’t quite matched those highs in 2024 – which he admitted was due to a fear of mistakes creeping back into his driving.
“Last year when I was pushing like hell, I was enjoying a lot,” Katsuta told DirtFish. “But now it’s a totally different feeling. I have to finish the rally, I am very nervous because I don’t want to make a mistake and be more on the safe side all the time.”
Katsuta’s 2024 season has been blighted by incidents, crashing out of podium positions on three occasions so far this year (Sweden, Portugal, Greece).
Katsuta is currently fourth overall, just a tenth behind M-Sport's Adrien Fourmaux
He will begin Saturday’s action 0.1s behind Fourmuax but still intends to push to take third place back from the Ford Puma driver; the extra three points from ending Saturday’s action on the podium would narrow the gap to Hyundai in the manufacturers’ title race to 13 points.
“Sometimes [driving safely] it gives you the safety feeling but then you lose the rhythm a bit and then the confidence is not really creating another good step, so but I’m still hoping that I should have the pace when I push.
“It’s not going to be easy [to beat Fourmaux], of course, but I still believe that our package should be able to catch him. But of course, I need to do a good job.”
