In a discipline vampirized by Sébastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier, holders of seventeen of the last nineteen WRC titles between them, the French generation is still looking for itself. After Adrien Fourmaux in 2022, Pierre-Louis Loubet will have the difficult task of succeeding them. At 25 (he will be 26 on February 18), he will compete in his first full season in the World Rally Championship in 2023 with the British M-Sport team at the wheel of a Ford Puma Rally1. He will even be the only Habs to play in the general classification since the eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier (Toyota Gazoo Racing) will only compete in a few rallies, including that of Monte-Carlo, Thursday January 19, at the start of the exercise.
“I didn’t explode with joy, but it’s a relief, because this goal has been achievedt, recognizes Pierre-Louis Loubet. My dad and I have been fighting since I was little to get here. ” ” At last ! He was programmed for this.rejoices his dad, Yves, European rally champion in 1989 and holder of four podiums in the world championship.
It’s a dream come true ? Something that I have been dreaming about since I was a kid. To do my first full season,… https://t.co/eUFCphn33x
However, the son did not particularly imagine himself following in the footsteps of the father. “He didn’t love the rally any more than that”admits Yves Loubet. “My father never put a knife to my throat, laughs Pierre-Louis Loubet. I felt that it made him happy when I started karting, but I never felt obliged. » Although they share a common passion, the first never attends the races of his offspring. “It’s his rally, his story”he justifies.
“I am asked for 600,000 euros”
The story of “Pilouis”, his nickname, begins in karting, from the age of five. Quickly, he demonstrated skills behind the wheel and drove alongside Pierre Gasly, Charles Leclerc, Esteban Ocon and Max Verstappen, now Formula 1 drivers. “When I was little, I dreamed of F1, we all had that dream”remembers this fan of the Spaniard Fernando Alonso, double world champion in the queen category in single-seaters.
But the dream of Pierre-Louis Loubet then shattered on the reality of the disproportionate budgets necessary to pursue his career on the circuits. He does not manage to integrate the training courses (Ferrari, Renault, RedBull, etc.), unlike his rivals in karting. His father says:
“It’s my worst memory. We were coming back from Barcelona, where he had tried out. My son is 15, I tell him: “Pilouis, next year I can’t come up with budgets like that, they’re asking me for 600,000 euros. We are burnt out.” I saw the dream of my kid fly away…”
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