Disappointment down under for Johnston

AARON Johnston and Takamoto Katsuta suffered their most disappointing result of the World Rally Championship season so far at Rally New Zealand over the weekend.

The Toyota Gazoo Racing Team Next Generation crew went into the event keen to continue a fine run of form that has seen them climb up to fifth in the overall standings, but during Saturday’s penultimate stage disaster struck.

They had just hauled themselves up to fifth overall after a difficult start to proceedings on Friday when they secured a string of eighth fastest times, when they slid wide on a corner in increasingly wet conditions and rolled their Rally1 Yaris down a hillside.

Fortunately the pair walked away from the off unscathed but the flip side to that was the disappointment that rollcage damage meant there was no chance of them being able to resume the rally on the final day to salvage something from an event that promised so much.

Ahead of the rally, Johnston and Katsuta were confident of a top five or even a podium finish given its similarity to Finland, where the Japanese driver has honed his considerable skills over recent years.

And on Thursday night’s first special stage, those hopes seemed well founded as they came home fourth to start the first full day the following morning well inside the top five.

Unfortunately, however, things didn’t go to plan and they found their top five dreams left in tatters following Saturday’s accident.

As disappointed as the duo were about their own performance, they were equally as delighted for their Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mates, 22-year-old Kalle Rovanpera and his co-driver, Jonne Halttunen, who became WRC champions with victory in New Zealand on Sunday.

The Finnish pilot became the youngest ever overall champion, beating Colin McRae’s previous record which has stood for 27 years after the Scot won for Subaru in 1995 at the age of 27.

“As disappointing as our finish was, we are equally delighted to congratulate Jonne and Kalle on becoming World Rally Champions,” Johnston said.

“It’s a fully deserved achievement for a superbly talented crew and wonderful teammates.

“We’re sorry to the team for not finishing on this occasion but we’re determined to return to for next time out in Spain,” he concluded.