Pierre-Louis Loubet wins the Qatar Rally

Could this be the beginnings of a year where success will finally be on his side? Invited by the organizers along with Mads Ostberg and Martin Sesks, Pierre-Louis Loubet managed to avoid all the pitfalls to win. The 13 stages representing 201,04 km timed proved to be particularly demanding, particularly on the tires.

During the first day, there were many punctures. This was fatal to Nasser Al Attiyah. Multiple winner and favorite on his field, the Olympic skeet medalist started his solo ride after SS3 when three flat wheels led to his exclusion from the stage. Falling 18th almost 30 minutes late, he didn't finish the 2nd day either. The Qatari, who saw the return of Giovanni Bernacchini at his side, will not keep good memories of his start to 2024 after abandoning the Dakar and withdrawing from one of his favorite events in the Middle East championship. Nasser aside, the fight for victory was played out between the guests.

Almost managing to avoid all punctures, Loubet was only 22'' behind Al Attiyah at the time of the local hero's troubles. At the start of the 2nd day, he was leader with 22”7 ahead of Mads Ostberg. The latter had initially led, before a wheel change pushed him back to 5th. Regularly showing himself to be the fastest, he managed to move up to 2nd. The fight between the two drivers using Skoda Fabia RS Rally2s looked promising.

At the end of the morning's three stages, the Frenchman had managed to increase the gap to 41''. Despite the Norwegian's forcing, Pierre-Louis maintained a 4''6 margin and won his very first rally in modern. The Corsican had indeed achieved success at the 2019 Autun National on a VHC Ford Escort. Loubet is only the 3^e non-Arab to add his name to the list after Björn Waldegård in 1986 and Vojtech Stajf in 2018. While his WRC2 program will attack in Portugal, this trophy in Qatar is the best way to start the year and begin his collaboration with his new co-pilot.

« We can be very satisfied with what we have done, explained Pierre-Louis. It was a great moment, a great rally and I really enjoyed it. Thank you everyone. We had a shock absorber problem and we are happy to be at the end. It was a difficult and very demanding ordeal. »

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