Pierre-Louis Loubet

Pierre-Louis Loubet (French pronunciation: [pjɛʁ.lwi lu.bɛ]; born 18 February 1997) is a French rally driver. He is the 2019 World Rally Championship 2 Champion.[1][2] He is the son of the 1989 European Rally Champion Yves Loubet.

Pierre-Louis Loubet
Loubet at the 2017 Wales Rally GB
Personal information
NationalityFrance French
Born (1997-02-18) 18 February 1997
Bastia, France
World Rally Championship record
Active years2015–present
Co-driverFrance Florian Haut-Labourdette
France Vincent Landais
Rallies54
Championships0
Rally wins0
Podiums0
Stage wins3
Total points45
First rally2015 Rally de Portugal
Last updated on: 15 Nov 2022.

Career

Early career

Loubet started karting at 7 years old at the Figari circuit, close to his Porto-Vecchio family residence. After a year of Formula Renault in 2014, he switches to rallying after obtaining his drivers license.[3]

Beginnings in rallying (2015)

Loubet made his entry into world rallying in the JWRC category in Portugal, where he would finish 2nd in his category with Victor Belotto as a co-driver. After retirements in Finland and Poland, he started the 2015 Tour de Corse with new co-driver Vincent Landais, but would also retire from the rally. He would finish the year with a 5th place in Catalunya and 4th in Wales. He would finish the year 6th overall in the 2015 Junior World Rally Championship.

Initial WRC2 Campaign (2016)

Pierre-Louis started the 2016 WRC-2 campaign on a Peugeot 207 S2000 in Portugal with a retirement, before switching to a Citroën DS3 R5 run by PH Sport. He would then go on to score several points finishes in Sardinia, Poland and Corsica in WRC2, before scoring a podium in Catalunya in the RC2 category.

M-Sport (2017)

Starting the year with PH Sport in Sweden, he retired due to an engine failure and duly switched to M-Sport and the Ford Fiesta R5, alongside Eric Camilli and Teemu Suninen before Corsica. This would be marked as a consistent year with many points finishes (4th in Catalunya being the best result), but with no podiums.

Hyundai / BRC Racing Team (2018)

Hoping to take a step up in 2018, Loubet switched to the new Hyundai i20 R5, driving for BRC Racing Team. He started the year with a limited FIA ERC campaign in the Azores and Canary Islands, both of which were impacted by mechanical and electronical failures, but with a decent pace to show for it. After more issues in Corsica, he would finish a season-best 4th in Portugal, with retirements being the theme of the season in Italy, Germany and Wales.

First title (2019)

Loubet started 2019 as he had done in 2018 with a two-event European Rally Championship campaign, again in the Azores and Canary Islands. He would have to retire before the final stage with an alternator belt failure, despite being on the podium. In the Canary Islands, a false start penalty would demote him from 3rd to 5th place, but the pace shown in the Skoda was promising. He arrived to Corsica hoping to take a good result at his rally, but small issues would hinder his pace, and he would finish 10th in class. Starting with Portugal however, he went on a consistent and quick pace to win Portugal and Sardinia. He would then go on to finish 4th in Finland. After the summer break, he battled it out with Petter Solberg at Wales Rally GB, finishing 2nd and taking the championship lead. He would then finish 4th in Catalunya, narrowly missing out on clinching the title. The decision had been made to enter Rally Australia for a final round showdown against Benito Guerra, however, following the widespread bushfires in New South Wales, the rally would be cancelled, crowning Loubet as champion with a 3-point advantage over Kajetan Kajetanowicz.

Rally results

WRC results
Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 WDC Points
2015 Pierre-Louis Loubet Citroën DS3 R3T Max MON SWE MEX ARG POR
28		 ITA POL
Ret		 FIN
Ret		 GER AUS FRA
Ret		 ESP
32		 GBR
34		 NC 0
2016 Pierre-Louis Loubet Peugeot 207 S2000 MON SWE MEX ARG POR
Ret		 NC 0
Citroën DS3 R5 ITA
17		 POL
18		 FIN
Ret		 GER
12		 CHN
C		 FRA
25		 ESP
13		 GBR
41		 AUS
2017 Pierre-Louis Loubet Citroën DS3 R5 MON SWE
Ret		 MEX NC 0
Ford Fiesta R5 FRA
15		 ARG POR
25		 ITA
19		 POL
21		 FIN
31		 GER
14		 ESP
11		 GBR
20		 AUS
2018 BRC Racing Team Hyundai i20 R5 MON SWE MEX FRA
23		 ARG POR
11		 ITA
Ret		 FIN
15		 GER
Ret		 TUR GBR
Ret		 ESP
18		 AUS NC 0
2019 Pierre-Louis Loubet Škoda Fabia R5 MON SWE MEX FRA
44		 ARG CHL POR
9		 ITA
11		 FIN
14		 GER TUR 21st 2
Škoda Fabia R5 Evo GBR
12		 ESP
17		 AUS
C
2020 Hyundai 2C Competition Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC MON SWE MEX EST
Ret		 TUR
Ret		 ITA
7		 MNZ 19th 6
2021 Hyundai 2C Competition Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC MON
16		 ARC
39		 CRO
29		 POR
Ret		 ITA
Ret		 KEN
WD		 EST
7		 BEL
68		 GRE
Ret		 FIN ESP
WD		 MNZ 18th 6
2022 M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Puma Rally1 MON SWE CRO
47		 POR
7		 ITA
4		 KEN EST
Ret		 FIN
Ret		 BEL GRE
4		 NZL ESP
10		 JPN 13th 31
2023 M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Puma Rally1 MON
Ret		 SWE
6		 MEX
27		 CRO
7		 POR
32		 ITA
Ret		 KEN
7		 EST
6		 FIN
45		 GRE
Ret		 CHL EUR JAP 10th* 28*

* Season still in progress.

WRC-2 results
Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 WDC Points
2016 Pierre-Louis Loubet Peugeot 207 S2000 MON SWE MEX ARG POR
Ret		 10th 36
Citroën DS3 R5 ITA
6		 POL
6		 FIN
Ret		 GER
5		 CHN
C		 FRA
5		 ESP GBR AUS
2017 Pierre-Louis Loubet Citroën DS3 R5 MON SWE
Ret		 MEX 10th 39
Ford Fiesta R5 FRA
6		 ARG POR
10		 ITA
5		 POL FIN
7		 GER
5		 ESP GBR
8		 AUS
2018 Pierre-Louis Loubet Hyundai i20 R5 MON SWE MEX FRA
6		 ARG POR
4		 ITA
Ret		 FIN
5		 GER
Ret		 TUR GBR
Ret		 ESP
7		 AUS 11th 36
2019 Pierre-Louis Loubet Škoda Fabia R5 MON SWE MEX FRA
10		 ARG CHL POR
1		 ITA
1		 FIN
4		 GER TUR 1st 91
Škoda Fabia R5 Evo GBR
2		 ESP
5		 AUS
C

References
  1. "WRC-2 : Pierre-Louis Loubet champion du monde après l'annulation du Rallye d'Australie - Rallye - WRC-2". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  2. "Hyundai switch for Loubet". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  3. "Pierre-Louis Loubet champion du monde WRC-2 2019 !! – RallyeCorse.com" (in French). Retrieved 2019-11-12.
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