M-Sport Ford announced that Adrien Fourmaux will replace Pierre-Louis Loubet at Rally Japan, but the team confirms that the last one will remain at the squad in 2024.
Loubet secured his first full-season campaign in World Rally Championship with M-Sport Ford in 2023 and chose Nicolas Gilsoul as his co-driver after Vincent Landais decided to join Sebastien Ogier from last year's Rally Japan. His season was far from perfect as he had many retirements and restarts under the regulations of Super Rally which came from mistakes or reliability issues with the Puma. On the other hand, Adrien Fourmaux lost his Rally1 seat in 2022 after his having four serious accidents during that season. In fact, the Frenchman was forced to miss Acropolis Rally 13 months ago due to his heavy crash at Ypres Rally of Belgium which had a serious impact to the chassis of his Puma. As Ott Tanak will drive for Hyundai Motorsport in 2024, M-Sport Ford is examining its options ahead of next season and it is very likely for the team to invest in young talents, but for now only Loubet has been confirmed as its driver for the upcoming year. Last but not least, it must be mentioned that Gilsoul and Loubet decided to end their partnership prematurely with two rounds remaining until the season finale and Benjamin Veillas will step in to navigate Loubet at Central European Rally next week.
"After clinching the 2023 British title and helping to drive Fiesta Rally2 development, we will be rewarding Adrien Fourmaux with an entry to Rally Japan in a Puma Hybrid Rally1", M-Sport stated.
"Adrien and Alex should be well suited to the tight, technical tarmac roads that the event has to offer and we look forward to seeing how they can perform back in Rally1 machinery.
"The French pairing will substitute for Pierre Louis-Loubet.
"Following Rally Greece a joint decision was made between Pierre and the team that Rally Central Europe would be his last event for the season.
"This extended break will allow Pierre to concentrate fully on getting everything needed in place to ensure that he lines up in Monte Carlo for the start of the 2024 season".
Photo Credits: M-Sport
Post a Comment