Pierre-Louis Loubet and Nicolas Gilsoul announced yesterday that they will put an end to their partnership which will be with an immediate effect.
Pierre-Louis Loubet's former co-driver, Vincent Landais, announced that he would join Sebastien Ogier for last year's Rally Japan as Benjamin Veillas decided not to continue with the seven-time WRC Champion, therefore Landais is still navigating Ogier on his partial WRC campaign this season. Loubet secured his first full-time programme in World Rally Championship with M-Sport Ford in 2023 and chose Nicolas Gilsoul to replace Landais. However, their collaboration came to an end with two rounds remaining until the season finale as Gilsoul cannot do a full-season campaign, therefore it is crucial for Loubet to find a new co-driver ahead of Central European Rally which is about to start in ten days. Thierry Neuville had been in a tough spot two years ago as Loubet is right now due to the fact that Gilsoul quitted from his co-driver duties just six days before the 2021 season started with Rallye Monte Carlo as he disaggred with Neuville on the salary, thus the Hyundai driver was in a hurry to find who will replace Gilsoul in that year and eventually named Martijn Wydaeghe. Neuville and Wydaeghe had less than a week to prepare for Rallye Monte Carlo of 2021 and the transition was difficult as Wydaeghe had a different Belgian accent to Neuville, so MW had to take French lessons to improve his accent. Last but not least, it must be mentioned that Neuville had already completed his pre-event test with Gilsoul ahead of Rallye Monte Carlo which means that it was a challenge for him to have a new co-driver during the recce as the cooperation between him and Gilsoul lasted for ten years. It is very clear between these two cases that Gilsoul left both of them just before the start of WRC round and put them in a very difficult position as they had to adapt with a new navigator alongside them.
Photo Credits: M-Sport
Who pays the codriver decides, phenomenon
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