Pierre-Louis Loubet makes his Guanajuato Rally México debut next month, but the Frenchman heads to North America on the back of a confidence-inspiring outing in Sweden.

Loubet guided his Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid to sixth place on round two and is now looking forward to the season’s first gravel outing.

“I know Mexico will be completely different from Sweden,” said Loubet. “We have more to learn there, with driving at the altitude, but I have a little bit more confidence – I know more about this car on the gravel and I have some ideas for what to expect.

“For me, there were a lot of positives to take from Sweden, for sure on the first day we were really on the [same] pace as the guys at the front and the second fastest time we took was really nice.”

Running his first full FIA World Rally Championship campaign of his career, Loubet knows he will be open to new challenges outside of Europe, including Mexico, Chile, Safari and Japan. “The rallies like, for example, Portugal and Sardinia, I have done them a few times and I have good experience to know what it’s going to be like there. -WRC

But the rallies outside [of Europe] are new. For me, I’m happy to be with M-Sport – this team has so much experience for all of those races.

“Overall, right now, I’m happy and really looking forward to Mexico.”