Takamoto Katsuta claimed his second successive victory with Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team and taken the lead in the FIA World Rally Championship after a dramatic finish to the Croatia Rally on Sunday.
Sami Pajari finished second, joining Katsuta on the podium for the third event in a row, completing a one-two finish for TGR-WRT.
The asphalt event returned to the WRC calendar after a year away with a new base and new stages, and proved every bit as demanding as in the past. Although weather conditions remained dry, gravel and dirt brought onto the stages made them extremely slippery and increased the risk of tyre damage.
While others would be caught out early in the weekend, Pajari impressively led in search of his maiden WRC victory until SS14 when he had to stop to change a wheel and tyre. Katsuta had also been in the lead fight but he too was slowed with tyre damage on the same stage.
That left Katsuta and Pajari on course to secure second and third respectively until a late twist in Sunday’s rally-ending Power Stage when the leader Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) sustained damage that forced him to retire.
Katsuta and co-driver Aaron Johnston claimed victory four weeks on from their maiden triumph at Safari Rally Kenya. As a result, Katsuta moves into the lead of the drivers’ championship for the first time in his career, becoming the first Japanese driver to ever head the standings.
Pajari and his co-driver Marko Salminen are up to fourth in the points after scoring their best rally result to-date, having previously finished third in three of the previous five events.
Oliver Solberg and Elfyn Evans were among those caught out on Friday morning. Both went off the road, but recovered well on Sunday. Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson scored the maximum available 10 bonus points after topping the Super Sunday classification and the Power Stage, with Evans and co-driver Scott Martin finishing second in both rankings. Evans is now second in the championship, seven points behind Katsuta, with Solberg six points further back in third.
With Solberg and Evans delivering maximum Sunday points for the team, TGR-WRT have extended their manufacturers’ championship lead to 65 points.
Two GR Yaris Rally2 cars also finished in the overall top eight, with Roope Korhonen and Alejandro Cachón finishing fourth and fifth in class in a tight battle for the WRC2 podium.
Elfyn Evans reflected, “It hasn’t been an ideal weekend for us after we got caught out on Friday morning. At least we were able to take some points today, but Oliver was quicker so we can’t be entirely satisfied with that.
“He drove well so well done to him, and to Taka and Sami for their one-two finish. For us it’s been a tough weekend, but sometimes these things happen and we will focus on bouncing back stronger on the next event.”
