The X-raid team can leave the Rallye du Maroc, the final round of the 2020 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship, feeling very satisfied. Guillaume de Mévius and Mathieu Baumel secured a very good third place in their first rally in the MINI JCW Rally Plus. Their team colleagues João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro finished the rally in eleventh place. Pál Lónyai and Alexey Kuzmich, who were competing in the X-raid 1000R Turbo, were pleased with 13th place in the highly competitive Challenger category.
The new MINI JCW Rally 3.0i delivered a sensational performance in Morocco and showed enormous potential. Guerlain Chicherit and Alex Winocq were in an excellent third place. However, their good performance was not rewarded: on the final day, of all days, problems cost them a place on the podium.
The debut for De Mévius in the X-raid team could hardly have gone much better. Right from the start, the Belgian was able to take a place in the top group in the MIN JCW Rally Plus. Although he still had to get used to the vehicle at the beginning, he quickly made it clear that he was aiming for a place on the podium. In the end, he secured a sensational third place in his debut rally in the MINI.
Chicherit and Winocq, who were driving the new MINI JCW Rally 3.0i, were under particular scrutiny. For the first time in its history, X-raid was competing with a petrol-powered car that it had developed and built itself. Chicherit showed that he had to be taken into account in the new desert race by winning the prologue, and he performed very well throughout. The chances of a podium finish were good right from the first rally. But on the last day, the MINI JCW Rally 3.0i was damaged on the tough stage. Chicherit then decided not to drive the even tougher part of the stage. Instead, he brought the car back to the team safely.
For Ferreira and Palmeiro, it was their first start in a long rally after many months. After their second place at the Rally Raid Portugal in March, they had successfully competed in numerous Bajas. In addition, the Morocco Rally took the two Portuguese to the sand and dunes again after a long time. They started the rally in second place in the prologue and were then able to finish in the top 10 in three of five special stages. On the last stage, Ferreira showed true team spirit and stopped to help a team mate. Unfortunately, this meant that he dropped out of the top 10.
After a long break, Pál Lónyai returned to desert rallying in the X-raid 1000R, this time with Alexey Kuzmich as his navigator. Lónyai showed a strong performance curve during the rally, improving from day to day. After six days, he was pleased with a strong 13th place in a class of almost 40 entrants. Just how well Lónyai did is shown by the fact that his competitors in front of him were driving pure prototypes, while the X-raid 1000R Turbo is based on a standard side-by-side.
The next event for X-raid will not be long in coming. The Baja Portalegre in Portugal takes place next weekend.
Quotes of the drivers
Sven Quandt, X-raid team principal: ‘I am very, very happy with our performance in Morocco. Unfortunately, the MINI JCW Rally 3.0i was damaged on the last leg and Guerlain decided to bring the car home safely. Otherwise, the engine ran without any problems and we showed that the MINI has great potential. Guerlain also did a great job and achieved fantastic stage results. Guillaume had a strong rally. He secured third place on his first outing in the MINI JCW Rally Plus. Thanks also to Joao, who stopped to help. He can be very satisfied with his first desert rally in the MINI. Pál also put in a very good performance – despite the long break.’
Guillaume De Mévius (#206 MINI JCW Rally Plus): ‘It was a very positive week with a new car and a new team. We are very happy with third place overall. The car was great and the X-raid team did a great job.’
João Ferreira (#210 MINI JCWRally Plus): ‘The last stage was very fast, but also very hard. There were many ruts and compressions. We were able to finish the rally in eleventh place and are very satisfied with our performance. Congratulations to X-raid for Guillaume’s podium finish.’
Pál Lónyai (#329 X-raid 1000R Turbo): ‘This rally was extremely hard. I think we did well, even though we couldn’t always show our full potential. A special thanks goes to my co-driver Alexey for his excellent work! We did really well. Many thanks also to X-raid.’
