Johnston helps Toyota keep their crown

AARON Johnston and Takamoto Katsuta brought a frustrating and somewhat disappointing season to a successful close when they helped Toyota retain the World Rally Championship manufacturer’s title for a fourth consecutive year.

The Fintona co-driver and his Japanese pilot were determined to do a job for the team at the weekend but any hopes of success they had were hit early on with a puncture on the very first stage on the Friday morning.

Fortunately, plenty of other crews experienced problems and they managed to stay in the podium fight but a spin on the Saturday’s second stage left them behind their rivals in that particular battle.

They did manage to claw their way back from fifth to fourth by the end of the event, during which they recorded two fastest stage times before watching on as their team-mate Elfyn Evans took the overall win and the points he earned on the final Wolf Power Stage of the event and the season were enough to earn Toyota the manufacturer’s crown once again.

“Delighted to be a part of another manufacturer’s title for Toyota Gazoo Racing, with this one being sealed at the team’s home event on the very last day of the season!,” Johnston beamed.

“We’ve earned a second successive fourth placed finish [having achieved the same result at the Central European Rally] after a weekend when, once again, we were able to show our pace but more importantly do a job for the team.”

The day after Rally Japan, Toyota Gazoo Racing announced their team line-up for the 2025 season with Johnston and Katsuta retained for another full campaign alongside returning two-time World Champion Kalle Rovanpera, Evans and Sami Pajari, who was crowned WRC2 champion.