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The Japanese driver has celebrated the first two top-class WRC victories of his career this season, but there have also been some major disappointments along the way. The latest setback came at Rally Finland at the beginning of August. A difficult weekend dropped Katsuta to third in the drivers’ championship, with team-mate Sami Pajari moving ahead of him into second after claiming his second top-class victory. Katsuta now trails championship-leading Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans by 41 points. With only three or four rounds remaining, Katsuta’s chances of fighting for the world title are diminishing. The Japanese driver is not ready to throw in the towel just yet, however. “The situation is bad, but not too bad. There could be a bit of an advantage from the road position,” Katsuta assessed. His next opportunity to improve the situation comes at Rally Paraguay on the final weekend of August. Road position could play a significant role in the outcome of the event. Katsuta: Every point matters Although Evans has already opened up a sizeable gap, the battle behind him remains tight. Katsuta highlighted the close fight for second place in the championship in particular. “It’s going to be a really tight fight. The lead is already a little bit far away, but second place in the championship is very close now. Everyone is close together, so every point matters from now on,” Katsuta says. One of Katsuta’s toughest rivals is in the same team. Pajari has climbed to second in the championship following a string of strong performances, and Katsuta was full of praise for the Finn after his own difficult Rally Finland. “Sami is really strong now, so big congratulations to him. I had a really bad weekend, but I’m very proud of him and really happy for him and Marko,” Katsuta says, referring to Pajari’s co-driver Marko Salminen. Katsuta and Salminen also share some history. Salminen previously served as the Japanese driver’s co-driver, making Pajari and Salminen’s success particularly pleasing for Katsuta on a personal level. “I’m a good friend of Sami, and Marko has done a lot of work with me. I’m really disappointed with my own performance, but very happy for them and the whole team. That was one of the positive things from the weekend.”