Katsuta Takes Back‑to‑Back
Weekend WRC posts show Takamoto Katsuta claimed back‑to‑back rally victories after Thierry Neuville suffered damage just 3.5 km into a stage (x.com). Social updates described Neuville’s early trouble as opening the door for Katsuta’s consecutive wins (x.com).
Takamoto Katsuta won Croatia Rally on Sunday after Thierry Neuville crashed out on the final Wolf Power Stage, giving the Toyota driver consecutive World Rally Championship victories. (wrc.com) Neuville had led overnight by 1 minute 14.5 seconds after a punishing Saturday in Croatia, where Sami Pajari lost time with a wheel change and Katsuta climbed to second. (fia.com) On Sunday, Neuville went off the road on the deciding stage and damaged his suspension badly enough to retire. Katsuta inherited the win, Pajari moved up to second, and Hayden Paddon finished third. (wrc.com) Croatia was the fourth round of the 2026 season and the championship’s first pure asphalt event of the year. The rally returned to the calendar after a one-year break and moved its base from Zagreb to Rijeka on the Adriatic coast. (wrc.com) Those roads changed the contest. World Rally Championship crews run timed special stages on closed public roads, and Croatia’s asphalt is known for sharp grip changes, blind crests and heavy tyre wear. (wrc.com) Katsuta’s win followed his first career World Rally Championship victory at Safari Rally Kenya on March 16, when he and co-driver Aaron Johnston broke through after 94 starts. After Kenya, he had climbed to third in the standings, 11 points behind Elfyn Evans. (wrc.com 1) (wrc.com 2) By Sunday morning in Croatia, the stakes had shifted from a single-rally fight to the title race. Motorsport.com reported that Katsuta’s Croatia result put him seven points clear of Evans in the championship. (motorsport.com) Neuville arrived in Croatia trying to recover from a bruising Safari Rally, where he finished seventh overall and said Hyundai would not “do miracles” before the switch to asphalt. Saturday in Croatia looked like a turnaround until the final-stage retirement. (wrc.com) (fia.com) For Katsuta, the result turned a long-awaited first win into a two-rally streak in less than a month. For Neuville, a rally he controlled into Sunday ended a few kilometers from the finish. (wrc.com)
