Johnston is hoping new event will bring a change of luck

IT’S fair to say that ‘Lady Luck’ has not been kind to Fintona’s Aaron Johnston and his Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate Takamoto Katsuta so far this season.

The pair have been in the fight for wins and podium finishes on several events during the 2024 World Rally Championship season and had it not been for heavy punishments for minor mistakes and mechanical issues then it’s likely they would be battling for the overall title.

“We’ve been very fast this year, fighting for the win in Sweden, fighting for the win and the very least a podium in Portugal and fighting for another podium in Sardinia, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

“We’ve had a couple of silly mistakes and the technical issue in Sardinia, which was no-body’s fault. It was just a mechanical failure and that’s part of the sport so we just move forward and we’re looking forward to the next three, fast flowing gravel rallies which should suit us and the car and we’ll give it our best shot.

“[Our pace has been] fantastic. We’re fighting for the podium in pretty much every rally we go to now and that’s a massive step forward from where we were 12 or even 18 months ago. We just need it all to click now.

“There’s nothing fundamentally wrong, we just need a bit of luck, but sometimes it goes like that but the job we do and the performance we put in won’t change and I’m confident some day it will all click and it will turn out for the good.”

And the talented co-driver is hoping this weekend’s trip to Poland, which will be his first to the event, which is returning to the WRC calendar for the first time since 2017, will kick-start their drive up the overall standings.

“It’s a brand new event for me, I’ve never done it and I’ve never rallied in Poland,” he observed.

“It’s a brand new event for me and I’m looking forward to going to a new rally, new stages and, while some of the top guys like [Toyota colleagues] Seb [Ogier] and Elfyn [Evans] will have been there before, everyone else hasn’t so it will be interesting.

“The roads are fast and flowing which should suit us, so I’m looking forward to it.

“We’re about halfway through now and of course we’d like to be further up the championship table than we are but at the same time, at least for Poland and maybe for Latvia, depending on how things go, our road position will be pretty good. Hopefully we can capitalise on that and turn it into results.

“Everything is good, we’re happy and feeling comfortable so we’ll continue to push.”