Loubet, the struggle continues

Scalded after his frustrating Portugal finished in the 32nd^e instead, Pierre-Louis Loubet had started the rally from Sardinia on the toe of the boots. All he wanted to do was build confidence and try to get a good result. Author of a solid 4^e shakedown time, he did not take any risks in the Olbia superspecial on Thursday evening (9^e) where there was more to lose than to gain. However, he was there on Friday morning for the first real sections. On this difficult terrain that he is beginning to master well, PLL immediately stood out with a 3^e time then two 4^es. This allowed him to return to the service park on the 3^e step of the podium. However, everything was not rosy. At the stop points, he let out his frustration at seeing the engine of his Rally1 cut off after crossing the fords. Without these few seconds lost with a coughing Puma, perhaps the Corsican could have claimed an even better rank.

The situation deteriorated dramatically during the 2^e loop. Although the car had just spent 30 minutes in service, the driver was unable to engage gear on the starting line of SS5. On his face, despair was occasionally seen as he was unable to begin the special. This being finally canceled for safety reasons, Loubet saw the opportunity to continue his journey, even if he received a 3-minute penalty for not being able to start. Now 16^e, the prospect of a good result had just vanished. He could still set times, but in the following section an exit sent him into a bush which put an end to his stage.

Decidedly unlucky, this little excursion turned out to have much more serious consequences since the team found more serious damage and chose to withdraw the Puma from the rally. For Pierre-Louis Loubet, it is another huge disappointment which adds to a particularly complicated start to the year.