Takamoto Katsuta was born on 17 March 1993 in Nagoya, Japan, though another source states Nagakute. Rallying runs in his family, as his father, Norihiko, was an eight-time Japanese Rally Champion. Katsuta began his motorsport journey in karting at the age of 12. Following success in karting, he competed in the Formula Challenge Japan series in 2010. Katsuta claimed the championship title in 2011, beating Ryō Hirakawa.
In 2012, Katsuta joined the TOM'S team in the Japanese Formula 3 Championship, racing in the National class. He finished third overall in this category. For 2013, he was promoted to a full championship driver, winning two races and finishing second in the overall championship, ahead of drivers like Katsumasa Chiyo and Nobuharu Matsushita. Katsuta's final year in Formula 3 was 2014, where he finished fourth in the standings with two victories.
During his final year in Formula 3, Katsuta began rallying at the local level with a Toyota GT86 in the JN-5 class of the Japan Rally Championship. He won his class in his second event, the Rally Highland Masters, finishing tenth overall. His performances attracted the attention of four-time World Rally Champion and future Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT team boss Tommi Mäkinen, who signed him onto Toyota's young driver program in 2015 alongside Hiroki Arai.
Under Mäkinen's supervision, Katsuta participated in selected rallies and practiced full-time in Finland. His first rallies with Tommi Mäkinen Racing were in local Finnish and Latvian events, driving a Subaru Impreza WRX. In 2016, Katsuta began rallying with co-driver Daniel Barritt and achieved intermediate success in local Finnish rallies. He made his first World Rally Championship start at Rally Finland in 2016 in the WRC-2 class, finishing 12th. In 2017, Katsuta competed in a full-season WRC-2 program with co-driver Marko Salminen, achieving a class podium at Rally Italia Sardegna. In 2018, Katsuta secured a surprise WRC-2 class victory at Rally Sweden, winning 10 of 19 special stages and finishing 11th overall. He won by 4.5 seconds from Pontus Tidemand.
Towards the end of 2018, Toyota announced intentions to run Katsuta in a World Rally Car by 2020. In 2019, he competed in WRC-2 with Tommi Mäkinen Racing, with Daniel Barritt returning as his co-driver. Katsuta won WRC-2 in Chile and impressed with a victory in a Toyota Yaris WRC at the SM-Itäralli. His first WRC outing with the Yaris WRC was at Rallye Deutschland, where he finished tenth. In 2020, Katsuta contested all European rounds of the WRC, finishing ninth in Monte Carlo and seventh in Sweden. He won his first WRC stage, the Power Stage, at Rally Monza. In 2021, Katsuta stepped up to a full-time WRC campaign with Toyota. He achieved his first WRC podium at the Safari Rally in Kenya, finishing second overall behind teammate Sébastien Ogier. After Daniel Barritt suffered a back injury, Aaron Johnston became Katsuta's new full-time co-driver from Rally Finland onwards.
The introduction of hybrid Rally1 machinery in 2022 saw Katsuta emerge as a top-tier competitor. He secured podium finishes at Safari Rally Kenya and his home event, FORUM8 Rally Japan, finishing the year a career-best fifth in the standings. In 2023, he finished seventh overall. The 2024 season included highs and lows, with Katsuta ending the year as a hero after back-to-back fourth-place finishes in Central Europe and Japan, contributing to Toyota's manufacturers' title. In 2025, Katsuta reached new levels of maturity and speed, starting the year with a second-place finish at Rally Sweden by a mere 3.8 seconds. He secured another second-place finish at Secto Rally Finland, spearheading a historic 1-2-3-4-5 lockout for Toyota. Despite a mistake at his home rally in Japan, he finished the season sixth in the championship with 122 points, helping Toyota Gazoo Racing secure its fifth consecutive manufacturers’ crown.
At the start of the 2026 season, Katsuta secured his maiden WRC victory at Safari Rally Kenya in thrilling fashion. This triumph, on his 94th WRC start, made him the first Japanese driver to win a WRC round since Kenjiro Shinozuka in 1992. He completed the 20-stage, 350.52-kilometer competition in 3 days, 16 hours, 5 minutes, 6 seconds, winning by 27.4 seconds over Adrien Fourmaux. Weeks earlier, Katsuta and co-driver Aaron Johnston placed second in Rally Sweden in mid-February, marking his first back-to-back podium finishes in the same season. His victory was followed by triumph at Croatia Rally for back-to-back wins. Katsuta was emotional after his Kenya victory, thanking Aaron Johnston and the team for their belief and support. Juha Kankkunen, Toyota Gazoo Racing's deputy team principal, expressed happiness for Katsuta's well-deserved win. Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota Gazoo Racing and Toyota Motor Corporation, hoped Katsuta would inspire the next generation of motorsports talent in Japan.
Takamoto Katsuta has achieved 2 WRC wins, 62 WRC stage wins, and 10 WRC podiums. His first WRC stage win was at 2020 Rally Monza SS16, and his first WRC Wolf Power Stage win was also at 2020 Rally Monza. His best overall WRC event result is second place, achieved at Safari Rally Kenya in 2021 and 2024, and Rally Sweden in 2025. His best overall WRC season result is fifth in 2022. He is currently third among drivers in the 2026 season with 55 points.
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