M-Sport's bad habit

Winner of the 2022 edition of Monte' with Sébastien Loeb, the British team was expected to turn the corner with the return of Ott Tänak. But the overall result acts as a cold shower. The Puma is neither competitive enough nor reliable enough. Where the Estonian was harmless, Pierre-Louis Loubet was efficient, clumsy and unlucky.

Published on 25/01/2023 à 18:04

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The Ford Puma M-Sport is as feline as it is unreliable © DPPI

Il y avait beaucoup d’attentes autour du team M-Sport. Sans doute trop. L’ensemble du WRC was delighted to see the Dovenby Hall (UK) team once again welcome a top drivers, dans l’espoir de vivre une bataille à trois avec Toyota et Hyundai. Le retour d’Ott Tänak in the cocoon that made it grow was not without damage. With Malcolm Wilson betting everything on the Estonian's Drivers' title, the Manufacturers' championship was sacrificed. Yet winner of Monte-Carlo last year and still performing well with the Puma, Sébastien Loeb never seems to have been part of the plans for this 91st edition. In hindsight, it would have been very interesting to see him evolve on these roads that he knew to have a point of comparison. While it seems