Taito Kato arrived at the Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium in the Championship leader’s bib and left with a position consolidated by three podium finishes, including an impressive victory after starting in 7th position. The Japanese hopeful seized the opportunity to increase his lead in the French F4 Championship!
Taito quickly adapted to the 7-kilometre track at Spa, immediately topping the order in the first Free Practice session and finishing 2nd in the second. The driver from the Honda Racing School at Suzuka was able to seriously consider fighting for pole position. However, the dry track of the morning became soggy in the afternoon after the arrival of rain. “During the Qualifying session, I managed to improve my times as the laps went by, to reach 4th place. That just goes to show that I still need to improve my driving on wet tyres,” he said on Friday evening. And on Saturday morning, he showed his progress in these conditions in Race 1.
After a good start, he climbed back to 2nd place, while setting the fastest lap of the race. The 16-year-old Japanese driver is learning fast! However, with the frontrunner gaining a lead from the very first laps, victory proved to be mission impossible. Nevertheless, the top step of the podium was not far away…
With the return of slick tyres in Race 2, Taito once again showed his fighting qualities. 7th on the grid in the reverse grid for the top 10 in Qualifying, he emerged in 5th position at the end of the first lap. After some exciting duels, he was the big winner at the chequered flag again. “It was a really exciting race, where I managed to be fastest. We had to stay focused right to the end, because a few drops of rain started to fall, but only on a certain sector of the circuit, which was quite stressful!”
With overtaking possible at several points on the Spa Francorchamps circuit, Taito Kato remained optimistic about his chances of winning Race 3. “Unfortunately, the safety car came back out twice and seriously limited the race time. When I got back to 3rd position, the two frontrunners were very close and I was hoping to be able to attack them. But that’s when the last neutralisation started, without the race being able to resume afterwards.”
“This meeting in Belgium will remain very positive with these 3rd, 1st and 2nd places. I’m going to continue fighting to keep my lead in the French F4 Championship. I’d like to thank the FFSA Academy staff, my engineers and everyone who has supported me from Japan.”
Info Kartcom / Photo KSP – Guillaume Veuve