Tyrone man Aaron Johnston played his part in another win in this season’s World Rally Championship as Takamoto Katsuta emerged victorious at the Croatia Rally on Sunday.
The duo had enjoyed success at Safari Rally Kenya last month, with Katsuta at the time becoming the first Japanese driver to win a WRC event since Kenjiro Shinozuka at the Ivory Coast Rally in 1992.
Now he has bcome the first Japanese to lead the world championship after Hyundai’s overnight leader Thierry Neuville crashed with victory in his grasp.
Neuville had led by one minute 14.5 seconds going into the final leg and was set for Hyundai’s first victory of the season when he hit a concrete block and smashed the car’s front right suspension with only a few kilometres remaining.
The Belgian tried to continue but had to stop.
Katsuta – with Omagh man Johnston in the seat beside him – was handed the win instead with Finnish team-mate Sami Pajari moving up to second, 20.7 seconds behind. New Zealander Hayden Paddon finished third for Hyundai – his first podium since 2018.
The Japanese, driving also for a Japanese manufacturer, now has 84 points, with team-mates Elfyn Evans and Oliver Solberg on 74 and 68 respectively.
“We always want to win but we would never wish for something like this to happen to a competitor. It can and has happened to us before, so we know it’s not a nice feeling for a team or a driver,” said Toyota’s deputy team principal Juha Kankkunen.
Katsuta also felt sorry for Neuville but recognised his own team’s contribution.
Thierry Neuville suffered misfortune
“It was a crazy one right until the end with so many things happening. It’s nice to be leading the championship now, but I’m not going to think about it too much: I will just stay focused on myself and on doing the best that I can,” he said.
Welshman Evans and Sweden’s Solberg crashed out on Friday, returning on Saturday to fight for the points handed out in the final Power Stage and from the Super Sunday classification.
Solberg took the maximum 10 points with Evans bagging eight. Toyota moved 65 points clear at the top of the manufacturers’ standings.
Neuville apologised to the team for his accident, with the car skidding on gravel and going down an escape road where it clipped the block.
“We were driving according to plan, and our target was just to get through the stage, but unfortunately, we were surprised on that corner,” said the 2024 champion.
“It’s going to be a tough period for us but we have no choice but to come back stronger and keep fighting.”
The podium trio were the only top-category drivers in the leading 10, with French Rally 2 driver Yohan Rossell fourth in a Lancia and brother Leo fifth in a Citroen.
Derry’s Josh McErlean and his co-driver Eoin Treacy were classified 15th overall, while Cavan’s Craig Rahill alongside Conor Smith, and Fermanagh native Jon Armstrong and his co-driver Shane Byrne were 19th and 32nd respectively.
Spain hosts the fifth round of the championship in the Canary Islands from 23-26 April.
Additional reporting: Reuters