Victory is so near, yet so far for Johnston in Sweden

SUNDAY, February 16th proved to be a case of what might have been for Aaron Johnston and Takamoto Katsuta.

The pair went into the final day of Rally Sweden just three seconds adrift of their Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mates, Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin, but after Sunday’s first stage they found themselves in the overall lead by 4.5 seconds after a sensational run over the Vastervik test.

That left them on the verge of a first ever World Rally Championship event win, knowing clean runs over Vastervik for a second time and the event-ending Umea Sprint Wolf Power Stage would be enough for victory.

“It was a stage that we just drove our own pace and when we got to the end it didn’t feel particularly special, it was just a normal clean run through with no mistakes,” observed Fintona’s Johnston..

“When we were 7.5 seconds faster than Elfyn or whatever it was to take the lead by 4.5 seconds, so at this point naturally you start to maybe dream or think about [victory] a wee bit more but we knew we had a service between the first two stages on Sunday morning and Elfyn could make some adjustments.”

Adjust Evans and Martin, who are realistically challenging for the overall WRC title in 2025, certainly did and while Johnston and Katsuta produced a tidy run over stage 17, their team-mates blitzed it and engineered a 3.7 second lead going into the short Umea Sprint.

“We expected him to come out fighting on the penultimate stage but when we got to the end and we saw we only dropped 1.5 seconds to Thierry [Neuville, World Champion, who was third] and we heard from the team that [Elfyn] was six seconds or whatever faster was a bit of a shock!,” Johnston admitted.

“But they are our team-mates and our great friends so to see them come back and fight for the victory up until the power stage kept it exciting not only for us but for all the fans too.”

In the end, the 3.7 second advantage proved too much to overcome over the final 8.62 kilometres of ice and snow in Sweden, leaving the Fintona co-driver and his Japanese pilot having the bitter-sweet sensation of being somewhat disappointed to settle for second overall but being pleased for their team.

“I think I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t say there was a tiny bit of disappointment but on the other hand, I’d have broken your arm for P2 before the rally started, so you have to think about the bigger picture,” Johnston acknowledged afterwards.

“It was a really strong weekend and one where we felt really comfortable in the car and were able to push to a level where we were competitive but not taking any risks and just finding a nice rhythm and the pace was there. For sure, we could have pushed more than we were doing particularly on the penultimate stage on Sunday but I think with the conditions and how the road was evolving, it was important not to take any risks when you’re that close to the finish.

“We could have pushed more, but it could have ended in disaster which was what we didn’t want. We had to weigh up the risk versus reward and I think we were rewarded with P2 and we’re very happy to be there.

“To finish [in P2] and be so close to the win up to the very last corner of the very last stage of the rally was massively enjoyable, and it’s a big confidence boost moving forward into the Spring rallies now, with Kenya next and then a new event in the Canaries and then back to the classics of Portugal and Sardegna.

“Of course, it was a 1-2 for Toyota on Saturday points and we managed to take a 1-2 on the Sunday points and on the Power Stage, so we ensured a maximum score for the team. And Elfyn is obviously challenging for the championship this year, so in the bigger picture, it is probably fair for him to finish in front.”