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    Katsuta wants to fight for WRC title in 2027

    1 month ago

    The Toyota driver is targeting more consistent podiums in 2026 before he hopes to push for the championshipsPhotography by ToyotaWords by Luke BarryTakamoto Katsuta is aiming to fight for theĀ World Rally Championship in 2027, with more podiums the target for 2026.Starting his seventh season as a Toyota Gazoo Racing driver, the Japanese has seven podiums to his name but is yet to win a round of the WRC.He has proven his pace – especially on faster loose-surface events like Sweden and Finland – but has displayed a lack of dependability at times; making mistakes or crashing in pressure scenarios.Katsuta’sĀ bestĀ championship finish is fifth (in 2022) while the most podiums he’s scored in a season is two (2022 and 2025).He told DirtFish: ā€œFor me, next year [2026] is going to be kind of a one step forward year. This is my target, which is likeĀ trying to focus on more consistently fighting for the podium – like minimum top five of course, but everybody fighting for the podium is fighting for the championship points also.ā€œIf I can do it that, then it will be quite high championship points, so a step forward, and towards the ’27, if I can, [I want] to fight for the championship. Of course it’s never easy I know, it’s going to be a very, very tough challenge for sure, but this is my target and I just try my best to get there.ā€œAnd I believe it’s not impossible, so I just need to keep improving and also show the potential as much as possible.ā€Katsuta learned a valuable lesson at his home event, Rally Japan, last year, where he hit a plastic barrier on Saturday while fighting team-mates SĆ©bastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans for the lead.He was desperate to win the rally, but in hindsight believes he should have accepted the podium – a key attribute when fighting for a championship.ā€œI was too much focusing to try to get a win,ā€ Katsuta reflected. ā€œIf I accept it, OK, now I go for podium,Ā for sure 100% I stay there [on the podium].ā€œI’m not saying that I made a mistake or decision or anything because I wanted to win, but this kind of moment maybe a bit like what SĆ©b and Elfyn can do is they are always fighting on top, top yes, but they can push but not too crazy every single stage – more like finding ā€˜OK this stage I was going with everybody, the next one maybe I push’ and it becomes more like controlling.In the same situation as Japan 2025 again, Katsuta wants to be more composedā€œBut what I did this time was ā€˜Now I need to push every stage or something like this’ and then small, small mistakes cost a lot. So I just need to keep pushing of course but finding the right timing to not do this kind of small mistake again.ā€œThis is one of the most important thing I need to do, in my opinion.ā€The speed, as highlighted, is not a concern.ā€œFor sure, the pace when I’m pushing, it’s most of the rallies quite OK,ā€ Katsuta added. ā€œThe thing is that a very small thing can affect all the rallies. It can make a small mistake, it can make a big mistake, and it can be easily done.ā€œFinding the balance and finding the solution in each moment, I just need to really find it and once I find it, for sure after that it’s so much easier I believe it. But this one step is not easy, just I try to find it.ā€œI have everything: good car, good team and good team-mates. I just need to work harder, then we’ll be there. This is my belief.ā€Words:Luke Barry Tags: Takamoto Katsuta, WRC, WRC 2026, WRC 2027 Publish Date January 3, 2026 DirtFish https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2026/01/zWtfJxYm-Katsuta09FIN25cm673-780x520.jpg January 3, 2026 Up Next
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