Toyota GAZOO Racing Rally Challenge Program driver Takamoto Katsuta says he’s pleased with his fourth-place finish in WRC2 on last weekend’s Tour de Corse after he was aiming to simply gain experience on the tarmac event.
Katsuta and co-driver Daniel Barritt kept moving up the standings throughout the weekend and ended the event in fourth in class after making the most of retirements ahead of them.
Speaking after the event, Katsuta said: “This was not an easy rally, but I enjoyed it a lot. I learned a lot last year, both here and in Spain, about asphalt driving and now my performance is getting better. If I compare to last year, it’s a big improvement, both with my driving and with the pace-notes.”
“Every stage was tricky with a different kind of character. On some stages we were able to set good times and show our speed, while on the trickier stages our strategy was to stay on the road and not push too much. I’m happy that we could follow this strategy.”
He added: “Rallies like this are about gaining experience, so I don’t expect too much in terms of a result. I’m therefore quite happy to finish fourth. Thank you to the team and also to Dan, he helped me a lot here.”
Katsuta will compete in his first non-European WRC2 round on the next round of the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship in Argentina later this month.
