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Katsuta claimed the first World Rally Championship victories of his career during the first half of the season. The Toyota driver won in Kenya in March before adding another triumph four weeks later at Croatia Rally. Although he now lives in Monaco, Katsuta learned his rallying in Central Finland. That is why Rally Finland holds special significance for him. He came to Jyväskylä aiming to challenge for victory but eventually had to settle for sixth place. Early in the rally he struggled with the set-up of his Toyota, and his hopes of a top finish were ultimately ruined when his windscreen fogged up in heavy rain. The incident cost him more than two minutes. The Japanese driver fought his way back into fifth place, only to lose it on the final stage. Katsuta ran wide, hit a tree head-on, but fortunately managed to limp his car to the finish of the Power Stage. “I saw a rock sticking out quite a lot on the inside of the corner and tried to avoid it a bit. Then I lost the line, and off the line there was a lot of loose gravel. So I completely lost the rear,” Katsuta said. “I was not able to turn, so the car went straight off and hit the tree.” Katsuta admitted he was fortunate to escape with relatively little damage. “It could have been much worse. Thankfully, we only got damage to the front because it could have easily taken the wheel off,” Katsuta said. “I feel so sorry for the team. I wanted to make it a good weekend in the end, but unfortunately it didn’t work,” he added in an apology to Toyota. The rally still ended on a high note for Toyota, with Sami Pajari taking victory on home soil. Oliver Solberg and championship leader Elfyn Evans completed a one-two-three finish for the Japanese manufacturer. Katsuta came away from the event with only eight championship points, but he remains in this year’s title fight. He is third in the standings, 41 points behind Evans. See the full World Rally Championship standings here! “Overall, it was a very, very difficult weekend for me. Of course, the expectations were very high. Last year we finished second here and the pace was good. We really wanted to win here, but it started very badly and just got worse and worse,” a disappointed Katsuta summed up.