Lining up alongside the former world champion Ott Tänak in the M-Sport Ford WRT team will be the Frenchman Pierre-Louis Loubet, he will be going for the first full season in the FIA World Rally Championship this season and starting with Rallye Monte-Carlo next weekend
Loubet had previously been running for Hyundai in the factory supported the 2C Competition team in 2020 and 2021 where he had some issues with several retirements. But, when he switched the team over to M-Sport last season, he started to find some rhythm and took two fourth-place finishes out of seven rounds entered.
Last week he tested the Ford Puma Rally1 around the mountains nearby Gap, Monaco, and according to reports he was at one point faster than Tänak during the timed testing.
“I’m really happy with this week’s test; we tried a number of things, much more than usual, and the car felt great. The car is built for these kinds of roads and it’s very enjoyable to drive. I hope we will see similar conditions to the test on the rally next week, that would suit us really well.” Loubet said.
“I’m trying to stay calm, it’s a fantastic opportunity to have my first full season with M-Sport, but it’s also a big responsibility and I take that very seriously. So, I’m trying to keep a cool head, and we’ll see how we do throughout the season. We have all the tools we need to do well.”
