Toyota's Takamoto Katsuta has claimed his first World Rally Championship victory at the Safari Rally Kenya, marking Japan’s first WRC win since 1992.
Katsuta, competing in his 94th WRC event, finished 27.4 seconds ahead of Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux. Toyota’s Sami Pajari completed the podium in third.
A double puncture on Friday dropped Katsuta to seventh, but a treacherous, muddy Saturday saw leaders-including teammates Oliver Solberg, Sébastien Ogier, and Elfyn Evans-retire with mechanical damage.
He entered Sunday with a 1 minute 25.5 second lead, allowing a conservative final run through the last four stages.
Despite retiring Saturday due to suspension failure, Evans holds the championship lead with 66 points-eight ahead of Solberg and 11 over Katsuta.
Solberg, Ogier, and Evans restarted Sunday under Rally1 rules, each winning a stage. Solberg secured five bonus points by topping the Power Stage.
"It was just crazy," said Katsuta. "So many difficult moments-these memories all went through my head."
Toyota team principal Juha Kankkunen praised the effort: "This was the toughest Safari since its return. To lose three cars yesterday was a disaster-but everyone fought back hard."
The WRC now heads to Croatia for the asphalt-based Rally Croatia from April 9-12.