Guerlain Chicherit and Guillaume de Mévius surprised many when they departed Overdrive Racing to join X-raid Team for the Rallye du Maroc. Abrupt as it might be, both believe signing with a team that has factory support from Mini give them the best opportunity to be competitive, especially at the Dakar Rally in 2025 and beyond.
Reports of de Mévius’ defection surfaced on Tuesday, which were corroborated by Overdrive boss Jean-Marc Fortin. According to Fortin, the team had been prepared to give de Mévius a two-year contract extension when Fortin was suddenly told by the driver that he had joined X-raid instead.
De Mévius gave his side of the story in an interview with Autosportwereld on Friday. Although he confirmed he had an offer to continue with Overdrive and Toyota in 2025, he stressed he was merely “a client of Overdrive Racing. […] I was never an official Toyota driver.” Unlike Toyota Gazoo Racing, Overdrive is a private operation.
“I have an opportunity to win races with X-raid, and they will help me reach the highest level,” he continued. “This is my first official contract, the first time I’ve signed with a manufacturer, and I’m happy about that.”
Chicherit shared similar sentiment, though he is no stranger to X-raid or Mini. He raced the Dakar Rally for the German outfit from 2006 to 2010 and again in 2015 and 2016, scoring a best finish of fifth in 2010 with two total stage wins.
While Morocco is his first time racing a Mini from X-raid, he has dabbled with the manufacturer in the FIA World Rallycross Championship.
“My career started with X-raid in the BMW X3 CC. We tested and developed many vehicles together. That was a great time,” Chicherit commented. “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.”
Both drivers joined Overdrive for the 2024 season, where they raced identical-liveried Toyota Hiluxes themed after the Colt Seavers’ pickup truck in The Fall Guy. The two impressed early as de Mévius finished second and Chicherit fourth in the season-opening Dakar Rally, though a double retirement at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge followed by mechanical problems and crashes at the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid derailed their campaigns. Neither of them ran the Desafío Ruta 40.
With one round to go, Chicherit is fifth in the standings and four points ahead of de Mévius.
For the Rallye du Maroc, Chicherit and co-driver Alex Winocq will drive X-raid’s new Mini John Cooper Works Rally 3.0i while de Mévius and Mathieu Baumel, along with their new colleague João Ferreira, are in the Mini JCW Rally Plus. The 3.0i differs from previous X-raid cars as it uses a gasoline-powered engine rather than diesel. De Mévius noted to Autosportwereld that development of the new Mini was “put on hold for a while” since X-raid also oversaw 2024 Dakar winner Team Audi Sport’s now-defunct rally programme through Q Motorsport.
“We are delighted to be competing in Morocco with such a great line-up,” commented team principal Sven Quandt. “De Mévius and Chicherit finished the Dakar in a sensational second and fourth place. João 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.”
The Rallye du Maroc is scheduled for 6–11 October.
