Takamoto Katsuta claimed a memorable maiden World Rally Championship victory after coming through a Safari Rally Kenya that will be remembered as one of the most brutal in history.
After finishing second on four occasions in his WRC career, the Toyota driver finally upgraded to a first win after delivering a smart drive in incredibly rough conditions that caught out many of his rivals.
Katsuta and co-driver Aaron Johnston clinched their first WRC win by 27.4s from Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux to extend Toyota’s unbeaten run of wins at the Safari Rally since it rejoined the calendar in 2021.
“I don’t know what to say. We had so many difficult moments.. Aaron [Johnston] worked very hard with me and the team always believed in me, even when I failed. Thanks to the whole team. Thanks to them and Aaron, my family are always a big supporter. Finally here. So many moments, so many things happening.
“Thank you to Ott (Tänak). He’s been there every single moment, sending me messages. He was waking up earlier than me. I did it, thanks to you! Akio san – finally we’re here,”said a tearful Katsuta, who became the first Japanese driver to win a WRC round since Kenjiro Shinozuka won Rallye Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) in 1992.
Katsuta’s victory hopes suffered a blow on Thursday when he lost more than a minute when an intercom failure left him without pace notes for the opening stage, which proved to be one of the toughest due to severe rain and muddy sections.
Sitting in fourth, Katsuta picked up a double front puncture in stage 7 and was forced to back off without the safety net of spare wheels, dropping to seventh at the end of Friday, 1m53.3s behind.
Takamoto Katsuta, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Toyota Racing
Heading into Saturday, the battle for the victory had been fought between the Toyota trio of Oliver Solberg, Elfyn Evans and Sebastian Ogier. Solberg blitzed Thursday’s opening stage clocking a time 30s faster than nearest rival Evans, with Ogier more than a minute back as the rain intensified.
Ogier instigated a charge on Friday as the reigning world champion hauled himself into contention by leapfrogging Evans into second. Solberg’s lead was then reduced to one second over Ogier after the Monte Carlo winner suffered a right rear puncture in stage eight.
That lead grew to 23.6s over Evans as Ogier lost two minutes after being forced to stop and change a puncture in Saturday’s stage 11. But the rally then turned in Katsuta’s favour as his team-mates and Hyundai rivals hit trouble.
Four stage wins from the impressive Sami Pajari on Friday had moved the Finn in fourth heading Into Saturday. However, a right rear tyre explosion in stage 12 cost him five minutes, dropping him down the order.
Evans was next to fall as a right rear suspension failure in stage 13 caused by an impact with a rock in stage 12 forced the Welshman into a first retirement since Acropolis Rally Greece, 2024.
Hyundai had been battling overheating issues with mud blocking the radiators on its fleet of i20 N Rally1 cars. Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux had to carefully navigate through the muddy stages that allowed Katsuta, who was among several to pick up double punctures in stage 12, to climb to third behind Solberg and Ogier at the end of Saturday morning.
Third then transformed into a surprise lead for Katsuta as both rally leader Solberg and Ogier retired on the road section heading back to the service park with alternator failures. Solberg also had a problem with the GR Yaris’ clutch.
Oliver Solberg, Elliott Edmondson, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Toyota Racing
Once in the lead Katsuta calmly navigated through the remaining stages and was helped further by stage 16, the toughest of Saturday’s loop, being cancelled due to deteriorating road conditions.
Equipped with a 1m25.5s lead over Hyundai’s Fourmaux, Katsuta took a safety-first approach on Sunday. Fourmaux did his best to apply pressure on his rival but Katsuta held his nerve to score an emotional win.
The impressive Pajari recovered from his Saturday puncture to finish third to record back-to-back podiums, after finishing third in Sweden last month.
Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi managed to nurse his overheating i20 N home in fourth, while WRC2 runner Robert Virves took fifth and the class win from Gus Greensmith.
The battle for the Super Sunday points proved to be an intense affair with Solberg coming out on top , taking the full 10 points.
Evans took six Sunday points to maintain his championship lead that has now been cut to nine points over Solberg.
Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Toyota Racing
Neuville salvaged three Super Sunday points after he was forced to retire from second on Saturday afternoon with a driveshaft failure.
Jon Armstrong was the only M-Sport-Ford to complete the distance after an heroic effort to bring the car home in 15th on his Safari debut. The Irishman was delayed by a series of punctures and overheating issues, and had to undertake a 24-minute stage-side repair on a driveshaft to stay in the rally on Friday.
Team-mate Josh McErlean’s difficult start to the 2026 season continued, retiring from Friday with a cracked gearbox casing after being delayed by his Puma overheating. The car then ingested a significant amount of water on Saturday, forcing M-Sport to retire the car again to protect the engine.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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