It is confirmed, Sébastien Loeb is back at Rally de Portugal, in May, behind the wheel of a Ford Puma Hybrid Rally1 M-Sport.

After his historic victory at the Monte Carlo Rally, where he became the oldest driver ever (47 years old) to win a World Rally (WRC) event, the Frenchman, who is a nine-time World Rally Champion, will return to is present in the Portuguese stage of the WRC.

The confirmation was made by M-Sport, which also added that the Frenchman will team up again with the navigator Isabelle Galmiche, with whom he had already triumphed in the Monegasque competition.

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It is recalled that Galmiche is the first woman to record an overall victory in the WRC since 1997, which makes Loeb’s return to Portugal even more special.

Driving the Puma is one of my favorite rallying memories; Winning in Monte Carlo after so long was incredible. The team did very well, quickly finding solutions to the issues identified in Shakedown, allowing us to achieve our 80th rally victory.

Sébastien Loeb

Premiere in Portugal was in 2007

Sébastien Loeb’s story in the Portuguese competition began in 2007, right after the French driver’s debut in Portugal, after winning 11 of the 18 specials of this edition of the Rally de Portugal.

Loeb would win the Rally de Portugal again in 2009, later earning two more places on the podium, for a total of 32 best times in Specials accumulated to his record.

“Portugal was an empty space on my calendar and it’s a land rally; Having already competed in this version of the race in 2019, I have a base of notes from some of its stages”, the French driver.

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“That was one of the reasons why I chose Portugal; the other was that I wanted to do a land rally. I like driving on those types of surfaces, so it was a very simple choice,” added Loeb.

Strong bet by M-Sport Ford

The charm with this return to Portugal of Loeb within the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team, which will become the first to enter five Rally1 cars in the same event, is notorious.

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I’m eagerly excited to see what happens during the special Lent from Portugal and will remain genuinely certain that fans will be very excited to read the event, as well as looking forward to seeing all of your support throughout the event weekend!

Rich Millener, Team Director, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team