Frenchman Pierre-Louis Loubet delighted to be making Safari Rally debut

MOTORSPORTS Frenchman Pierre-Louis Loubet delighted to be making Safari Rally debut

Abigael Wafula 05:00 - 15.06.2023

Loubet heads to Naivasha confident in the knowledge that his best results have come on rough gravel rallies.

M-Sport Ford youngster Pierre-Louis Loubet will look to put a tough first half of the season behind him when he makes his Safari Rally Kenya debut slated for Thursday 22 to Sunday 25 June.

The Frenchman arrived into his first full season at rallying’s highest level chasing a maiden podium, having twice finished fourth aboard a Puma Rally1 Hybrid in 2022, and is looking forward to delivering on that potential in the coming events.

Loubet opened his season on a disappointing note as he failed to finish the Monte Carlo Rally. He then went ahead to finish sixth in Rally Sweden before another disappointing 27th-place finish in Rally Mexico.

“It has been tough. After Sardinia, it was time for me to make refocus and reset to get ready for Kenya. It’s exciting to go to the Safari Rally for the first time.

"It’s fair to say the results we had so far were not what we were hoping for – in Sardinia, things were working really nicely on the first day even in some tough conditions. We will focus on the next one,” he said.

Loubet heads to Naivasha confident in the knowledge that his best results have come on rough gravel rallies and he will be hoping to stun home talent and former champions.

M-Sport team principal Richard Millener echoed those thoughts, adding: “Sardinia was a tough one for the whole team – everybody in the team is trying so hard right now, but we’re just not getting any luck.

"We’ll bounce back next week, this championship’s absolutely not over and we’re not about to give up.”

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