WRC Japan: Second placed Ott Tänak congratulates Takamoto Katsuta for the first time – RALLYPLUS.NET Rallyplus

At WRC Rally Japan, SS19, the final stage of the WRC season, Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta held off teammate Sébastien Ogier, who was chasing him from 4th position, by 12.3 seconds to finish on the podium at his home event. Hyundai’s Ott Tänak, who rode the stage after Katsuta, finished the stage in second place.

At the finish, Tänak was asked how he felt, and before answering, he asked the interviewer about Katsuta’s progress: “What happened to Seb and Taka?” When I heard that “Taka is on the podium,” he smiled and turned to the camera and gave a thumbs up and said “Congratulations!”.

Tänak had announced at the previous race in Spain that he would be leaving Hyundai for the rest of the season, and this was the last event Japan entered from the team.