M-Sport driver Pierre-Louis Loubet has split with his co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul, less than two weeks before the next World Rally Championship round.
The pairing only started working together 10 months ago, and currently sit 11th in the WRC standings with two sixth places being their best results. Last time out on Rally Chile they only made it to stage three before rolling out of the event.
That was the first time they retired from a rally due to a big crash, but have only finished four out of 11 WRC rounds in the points.
“Our paths separate faster than expected despite our joint determination to make our collaboration a success,” Loubet posted to Facebook.
“The experience you brought me for this first full season in the WRC will be treasured for years to come. Wish you the best for the future Nicolas Gilsoul.”
At the time of writing Gilsoul has not made a comment about the end of their partnership, and neither has Loubet announced a replacement co-driver for the Central European Rally on October 26-29. Following that is the season-ending Rally Japan on November 16-19.
Gilsoul is best known for being the long-time co-driver of Thierry Neuville. They first worked together in 2009, then became a full-time partnership in the 2011 Intercontinental Challenge season. Neuville came fifth in the standings in that campaign, and the next year the pair moved up together to the WRC.
From 2012 to 2020 they won 13 WRC events together and were championship runners-up five times, but on the eve of the 2021 season opener they parted ways. Gilsoul then spent 2022 co-driving Gino Bux.
