- Chicherit, De Mévius and Ferreira in the MINI
- Debut of the X-raid MINI JCW Rally 3.0i
The Rallye du Maroc marks the end of the FIA Cross Country Rally World Championship and is one of the most popular events on the calendar for this reason, among others. This year, the X-raid team is travelling to the starting city of Marrakesh with a total of four vehicles: the X-raid MINI JCW Rally 3.0i will be making its debut there. It will be accompanied by two X-raid MINI JCW Rally Plus and an X-raid 1000R Turbo side-by-side. In addition, X-raid can rely on an interesting and powerful line-up of drivers.
Two new crews will be sitting in a MINI in Morocco: the two Frenchmen Guerlain Chicherit and Alex Winocq will be driving the new X-raid MINI JCW Rally 3.0i. The Belgian Guillaume De Mévius will be competing in the X-raid MINI JCW Rally Plus together with the Frenchman Mathieu Baumel. João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro are also in the line-up, and they will be looking to continue their winning streak from previous races in the X-raid MINI JCW Rally Plus. Hungary’s Pál Lónyai will be competing in the X-raid side-by-side with Alexey Kuzmich.
For Ferreira and Palmeiro, it will be their first longer rally in the X-raid MINI JCW Rally Plus in about half a year. So far, the two Portuguese have mainly competed in Bajas – and with great success: they secured a total of seven podium places, with five of them at the top of the podium.
Chicherit has accompanied the X-raid team at several stages of its history. He started in the BMW X3 CC and drove the first MINI ALL4 Racing. Later, he competed in the CBRA Buggy, with which the X-raid team wanted to gain experience in the category of rear-wheel drive vehicles. Now the Frenchman and X-raid are starting together on another adventure. Chicherit will drive the first X-raid MINI JCW Rally 3.0i in the Rallye du Maroc.
De Mévius has also already covered the first kilometres in the X-raid MINI JCW Rally 3.0i. The Belgian is currently one of the great talents in the off-road rally scene. After finishing third in the 2023 Dakar in the Challenger classification, he sensationally secured second place in the car classification this year.
This year’s Rallye du Maroc starts in Marrakech and leads via Zagora to Mengoub Bouarfa in eastern Morocco. A total of 2,492 kilometres are on the agenda, 1,517 km of which are against the clock.
All news regarding the X-raid Team’s participation in the 2025 Dakar Rally will be announced at a later date.
Sven Quandt, X-raid Team Principal: “We are delighted to be competing in Morocco with such a great line-up. De Mevius and Chicherit finished the Dakar in a sensational second and fourth place. Joao has already clinched several victories this year. He is currently ranked second in the FIA World Baja and leads the Portuguese championship. I can’t wait to see our new family member, the X-raid MINI JCW Rally 3.0i, in action in a rally and to gain more experience with it. We would have liked to have entered more vehicles, but due to delivery bottlenecks at some suppliers, we had to limit ourselves to one petrol-powered car.’
Guerlain Chicherit: “My career started with X-raid in the BMW X3 CC. We tested and developed many vehicles together. That was a great time. Later, I tried out various other projects. I have learnt a lot in recent years and X-raid has been extremely successful. But now I’m back again. I think that X-raid can offer me the opportunities to fight for victories.’
Guillaume De Mévius: ‘The start with the X-raid team is a new adventure for me. I am very excited and can hardly wait for the journey to begin. I can certainly still learn a lot from X-raid. Together, we want to achieve victories and top results.’
João Ferreira: ‘The Rallye du Maroc will be my first real rally in a T1+ car. I’m really looking forward to it. I’ll do my best and I’m excited to see how I fare against the other top drivers. I’m also looking forward to working with my new team colleagues.’
Pál Lónyai: ‘I am looking forward to driving for X-raid again. The car has been further developed, and I am excited to see how it feels during the pre-race tests. It is always a pleasure for me to come to Morocco. I can’t wait for the rally to start