IN THE HEADLINES

KATSUTA’S WRC2 ATTACK

Toyota protege Takamoto Katsuta will contest the World Rally Championship this season as the manufacturer prepares him for a future at the top of the sport. Katsuta, who took his maiden WRC2 win on last year’s Rally Sweden, will tackle 13 of the 14 rallies in WRC2 with a Ford Fiesta R5. Katsuta, who will be co-driven by Briton Dan Barritt, will also get a run in a full-fat Yaris WRC on two Finnish championship rounds.

TICKFORD RESHUFFLE

Ford factory-backed Australian Supercars team Tickford Racing has snapped up Lee Holdsworth to complete its line-up for 2019. Holdsworth replaces Kiwi Richie Stanaway, the former GP3 title contender who has been dropped after just one season due to disappointing results. The team’s other three drivers will be Chaz Mostert, Cam Waters and Will Davison, with the squad’s 2015 champion Mark Winterbottom switching to Holden squad Team 18 – which coincidentally is Holdsworth’s old seat.

RED BULL BRIT INTO CARS

Red Bull Junior Jonny Edgar is to step up to car racing in 2019. The British racer, who has been competing on the international karting scene, will race in the Italian Formula 4 Championship with Jenzer Motorsport. Edgar, who is still only 14 years old, will also contest selected German F4 rounds.

TRS ENTRY BUILDING

The Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand, which kicks off next week at Highlands Motorsport Park, had attracted 12 confirmed entries as we went to press. Local Brendon Leitch, who has won races in each of the past four TRS seasons, tops the list. Another Kiwi, German F4 runner-up Liam Lawson, joins the field, along with European F3 points scorer Artem Petrov, Euroformula Open racer Cameron Das and Toyota-backed Japanese F4 prospect Kazuto Kotaka.

ORDONEZ’S NISSAN SPLIT

Lucas Ordonez, the first winner of Nissan’s gamer-to-racer GT Academy, has ended his relationship with the manufacturer. The Spaniard has been with Nissan for 10 years.