Johnston and Katsuta impress on return

FINTONA’S Aaron Johnston and team-mate Takamoto Katsuta made an impressive return to World Rally Championship action at the Central European Rally.

Having been ‘benched’ for Rally Chile after a disappointing result at Acropolis Rally Greece, which came on the back of a string of bad luck that had limited their points scoring potential this season, the Toyota Gazoo Racing crew were in determined mood from the off.

They didn’t let a desire to catch the eye to overtake the importance of finishing, however, and during difficult conditions on Friday in the Czech Republic the produced a consistent performance to stay in the mix at the sharp end of proceedings.

But once the weather conditions improved and the action moved to Germany and Austria they lit the touch paper, recording several fastest stage times en route to finishing fourth overall, winning Super Sunday and topping the Wolf Power Stage time-sheet to earn a super return of 22 points.

“It was a good result, especially on Sunday,” beamed Johnston, who believes he and Katsuta dealt well with any additional pressure that was on their shoulders upon their return to action.

He added: “There is always pressure and I think after sitting out Chile it was important to show what we can do in central Europe, especially leading up to the biggest event of the year for us, Japan. Pressure is part of the sport and I think we coped well considering everything that was going through our minds.

“I think we did what we needed to do coming here having been benched for Chile. It was important to get a strong finish.

“That was the plan, so we paced ourselves on Friday in the difficult conditions and when things were more stable on Saturday we could push on and set some competitive times and when the weather finally played ball and the sun came out and the roads were dry we were able to show the pace we have on tarmac, winning Super Sunday and the Wolf Power Stage.

“Overall, I think, it was a very positive weekend after what has been a difficult period over the summer.”

The World Rally Championship will conclude towards the end of next month at Rally Japan which is both Katsuta and Toyota’s home event and while determined to do well at the event where they won nine stages last year, Johnston is guarding slightly against his colleague’s view of giving it ‘full push’.

“We also need to have a little bit of balance for Japan to bring the car to the finish as well because we’re still in the fight for the manufacturer’s championship title which is extremely important for everyone in the team,” he said.

“We will be trying everything we can to push as much as possible to earn as many points and possible to win the title, so to do that, first you have to get to the finish so that will be the goal.”