M-Sport Ford WRT will be only fielding two full-time drivers this season but despite having fewer drivers on the start grid for the 2023 FIA World Rally Championship season-opener in Rallye Monte-Carlo next weekend, they do look strong after securing Ott Tänak to be the lead driver for this season.
M-Sport`s only win during the new regulations was actually in Rallye Monte-Carlo last season with the nine-time WRC champion Sébastien Loeb behind the wheel. After a successful test around the area of Gap, where some of the stages of the rally are located, the team is ready and is looking strong to be a candidate to clinch another Monte-Carlo win.
For the 2023 season, the 2019 WRC champion Tänak has returned to the team, where he started his WRC career back in 2011. He will be joined by the Frenchman Pierre-Louis Loubet, who is going for his first full season in the series after competing for seven rounds with the team last season while the Greek Jourdan Serderidis is going outside the team in a privateer-entered Ford Puma Rally1.
Credit: M-Sport Ford WRT
Team principal Richard Millener is looking forward to another season in the WRC: “We’re thrilled to be starting this new season with Ott leading the ranks. It’s been a productive few months, culminating in the pre-event test this week, and we’re ready to take on what is to come. I think we’re already seeing the benefits of working with Ott, and I hope Pierre comes to gain from this as well.”
“Everyone back at Dovenby has been hard at work on both the Rally1 and Rally2 programmes to get us ready for this new season. I want to thank everyone for their commitment so far and together we should be able to deliver some very strong results this year.”