LOUBET

World Rally Championship leader Ott Tanak says his first foray onto gravel with the Puma Rally1 in the coming days should provide plenty of answers to the questions he has been fielding to his M-Sport Ford engineers in recent weeks.

M-Sport Ford’s Team Principal believes the work that has gone on behind the scenes in the period since Rallye Monte-Carlo last month puts their Puma Rally1 in a good place going into Rally Sweden.

M-Sport has enjoyed a “productive” build-up to the new FIA World Rally Championship campaign and can only benefit from having Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja within their ranks as the campaign develops.

Rising French star Pierre-Louis Loubet says landing a full-time drive in the World Rally Championship next season with M-Sport gives him the opportunity to “show all my potential”.

The retirement of Sebastien Loeb, and a puncture that robbed his M-Sport Ford team-mate Pierre-Louis Loubet of second spot, has gifted the Acropolis Rally lead to a hard-charging Thierry Neuville.

Three-time Acropolis Rally winner Sebastien Loeb snatched top spot on the closing Friday stage and, in the process, denied M-Sport Ford team-mate Pierre-Louis Loubet the chance to hold the overnight lead for the first time in his career.

Ott Tanak remains on course to clinch his first World Rally Championship victory in more than a year after ending the penultimate day of Rally Italia Sardegna holding a commanding 46 second lead.