94th start, first victory for first japanese WRC winner

In his 94th start in WRC, Takamoto Katsuta claimed his first victory, after winning the Safari rally in Kenya. Photo: Christian Flodin / FotoINorr

The loveable japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta started the final day with 85,5 seconds lead ahead of Hyundai driver Adrien Fourmaux. Katsuta lost time against Fourmaux on every stage of the day, but the gap was too big, and the Toyota driver held Hyundai away from the top of the podium. The final difference between Katsuta and Fourmaux was 42,0 seconds. Toyota finnish driver Sami Pajari ended up on third place, and Hyundai part-time driver Esapekka Lappi ended up just outside of the podium, but claiming some important points for the team.
Oliver Solberg was the leader of the rally before he had to retire on saturday, but was ready on sunday with his car repaired, and he showed that is was not just a coincidence that he was the leader of the rally. Solberg claimed top points on sunday, with both fastest sunday driver, and also maximum points on the Powerstage.


Top 5 from Rally safari:
1) Takamoto Katsuta & Aaron Johnston, Toyota
2) Adrien Fourmaux & Alexandre Coria , Hyundai
3) Sami Pajari & Marko Salminen, Toyota
4) Esapekka Lappi & Enni Mälkönen, Hyundai
5) Robert Virves & Jakko Viilo, Skoda*
*WRC2 driver

Driver standings after round 3:
1) Elfvyn Evans, Toyota, 66p
2) Oliver Solberg, Toyota, 58p
3) Takamoto Katsuta, Toyota, 55p
4) Adrien Fourmaux, Hyundai, 48p
5) Sami Pajari, Toyota, 32p
6) Sebastien Ogier, Toyota, 26p
7) Thierry Neuville, Hyundai, 25p
8) Esapekka Lappi, Hyundai, 21p
9) Robert Virves, Skoda, 10p*
10) Gus Greensmith, Toyota, 8p*
*WRC2 driver

Team standings after round 3:
1) Toyota, 157p
2) Hyundai, 114p
3) Toyota team 2, 35p
4) M-sport, 23p

Written by: Christian Flodin