By 
DURING their four full seasons together, Fintona’s Aaron Johnston and driver Takamoto Katsuta have stood on the World Rally Championship podium on many occasions, but never on the top step.
They have been close. Very close. Particularly during last year’s Rally Sweden where they led by 4.5 seconds with two stages remaining before being pipped at the post by their Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mates, Welsh pair Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin.
With that narrow miss still fresh in their minds, they are determined to break their duck in 2026 and finally seal a WRC victory.
“Make no mistake about it, [getting that first win] is the goal,” 30-year-old co-driver, Johnston, confirmed. “We’re very determined to do that in 2026 but let’s see what happens. It’s a very difficult task to achieve that at the top level of any sport, never mind rallying, so hopefully we can get it across the line this year.”
As well as attempting to secure their first ever win in the WRC, Johnston and Katsuta are also hoping for a more consistent campaign with regular finishes in the higher points scoring positions, starting this weekend at the season opener in Monte Carlo.
“Every rally we go to, it’s fair to say we’re in the running for a podium at least for every event, so that will be the target for 26, to be fighting at the front of every rally we go to,” he added.
In order to achieve those goals, the Toyota duo will compete on a very similar calendar to 2025, with only Rally Japan’s move to May and Rally Sardegna’s change to October the changes to their schedule. And as tradition dictates, the action will kick off this coming weekend at Rallye Monte Carlo, which can be something of a lottery in terms of conditions, with the possibility of snow and ice in the mountains around the principality making set-up and tyre choices difficult.
But with so many years of experience at the event, they know how to deal with whatever it throws at them and they are looking forward to the challenge ahead as they are to enjoy a final fling in the current generation of Rally1 machinery.
From 2027, the WRC’s top flight will change markedly with new regulations being brought in to lower costs to increase competition and while Johnston understands that thinking, he admits he will miss these vehicles.
“We still haven’t got an absolute firm confirmation on what the new car will be or what spec we will be driving so it’s a little bit unknown” he said. “But for sure, it will be sad to see the end of Rally1 as we know it because the cars are phenomenal and it’s a pleasure always to step into them and drive as fast as you can all around the world.
“Of course, with the new car, we are definitely going to lose some performance, it just depends how much that is going to be but it’s always nice to get a new car and start again from scratch.”
Meanwhile, Johnston won’t be the only competitor from this locality competing in Monte Carlo and the WRC season this year, with Kesh native, Jon Armstrong driving for M-Sport in an all-Irish line-up that includes his co-driver, Shane Byrne as well as Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacey.
“It’s fantastic for the sport here in Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK to have as many competitors as we do at the top level,” Johnston beamed. “I wish Josh and Eoin and Jon and Shane the best of luck, all four of them deserve the opportunity and it’s great to see them get there.”
And like Johnston, Armstrong is looking forward to making his debut in the top flight of the sport at Rallye Monte Carlo, which he feels will be a ‘baptism of fire’.
The Kesh native has spent the last decade and a half battling for this opportunity and on Thursday afternoon the true reality of being a competitor in the WRC will hit home when he and co-driver Shane Byrne take their M-Sport Puma over the start ramp in Casino Square.
And while he’s looking forward to that particular experience, he knows too well that there will be nerves to contend with.
“Lining up for the ceremonial start in Casino Square will be very exciting, rubbing shoulders with some of the big stars,” he beamed.
“It will be a dream come true but it will be about taking it step by step and enjoying it at the same time. For sure, it will be daunting, but I’m sure everyone in our position has felt that way when they started their first event at the top level.
“I think you just know to expect it and try to focus on the job.”
Ahead of his WRC Bow, Armstrong has tested the Puma on the track in England and has undertaken a test in France where he suffered a well-publicised off-road excursion. But he knows that’s all part of the learning process at this stage of his top-flight career and over the first three rounds of the 2026 season, which will see him tackle the slippy tarmac in Monte Carlo, the snow banks of Sweden and the deep fesh-fesh of Kenya, gaining experience is what it’s all about.
“You’re not expecting to be flat out [from the start], but you don’t know,” he added. “You have to take it stage by stage and kilometre by kilometre and see how the pace is, but for sure, it takes a while to learn what the pace is, what these cars can do and the tyres, which are a lot different for me also.
“So, there’s a lot of things to learn and you can try and imagine what you want to achieve but until you start driving you don’t know. That’s why you have to take it step by step and build it up over the rally and over the year and the first three events are all very different so there’s going to be a lot of learning to say the least! It’s going to be a baptism of fire but a good one!”
Over the last 15 years, Armstrong has been marked as a potential WRC competitor. He showed early promise as a teenager in the British Rally Championship before going on to with the DMACK Prize Drive. But time and again, the doors to progress seemed to shut in his face and had it not been for his own drive, determination and belief this opportunity, which has come on the back of ans eWRC title win, two Junior WRC runner-up finishes and last year’s second placed finish in the European Rally Championship, would never have arrived. And now that it has, he’s delighted his perseverance has paid off.
“It’s been a long journey,” he acknowledged. “There have been a lot of ups and downs, that’s how I’ve always described it.
“There has been good progress and then you have to go backwards and then go back up again before being knocked backwards again or sideways. There have been quite a few side-steps but this is a big step forward!
“It’s not been an easy road but I never really felt like I wanted to give up trying to get to this point.”
