Takamoto Katsuta crashes on penultimate stage of Rally Paraguay

Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta has retired from the day at Rally del Paraguay after the Japanese driver clipped an outside bank on the penultimate stage. 

Feature image credit: Jaanus Ree // Red Bull Content Pool

Paraguay is proving to be a cruel mistress after the opening day of the inaugural event as the World Rally Championship contenders suffered damage, punctures and retirements across the event’s opening eight stages. 

One of those has been Katsuta, who has retired from the day on the penultimate stage of the day: Yerbateras 2, after the Japanese driver clipped a dirt bank. 

Katsuta, who was ninth in the overall leaderboard, curled around a slow hairpin, and as he raced through the tight left-right combination of corners, the back of his Rally1 Yaris stepped out. Despite his efforts to collect the rear-end slide, the Yaris slammed into the protruding edge of a dirt bank. 

Embed from Getty Images

The hit rotated the car around the Japanese-Irish, with Co-Driver Aaron Johnston, who made it back to an access road and retired from the stage. It remains unclear how bad the damage was to the rear of the car, but it was enough to stop their advances through the stage. 

It compounds a troubled start to the event for both Katsuta and Johnston, who endured a puncture and a stall on the opening loop of the day. 

Despite the early end to his day, it seems as though the Japanese-Irish duo will return to the event on Saturday after repairs, but they will be down the field as part of the restart procedure.

Following the incident, Katsuta has apologised to the team for the incident and has vowed to learn more about the remaining stages over the next two days. He said:

“It was unfortunate that we had tyre damage on the first stage, and for the rest of the morning I was trying to avoid risks. The stages are difficult with a lot of grip changes, and it’s not easy to find the rhythm if you’re not pushing.

“The afternoon was going well, though. We were quite on the pace with nice and clean driving, without pushing too hard. The feeling was good in SS7 but on one corner the rear snapped and I wasn’t able to catch it.

“I’m sorry for the team but I will try my best to learn more about these stages in the remaining two days.”

Read more WRC here:

• Rally del Paraguay: the schedule and times
• Elfyn Evans expects challenge to keep lead at WRC Rally Paraguay
• Rally Paraguay: Weather Forecast and Updates
• FIA confirm tender process for new WRC rights holder
• WRC Rally Chile Bio Bio: Entry list revealed
• WRC Rally del Paraguay: the entry list

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.