ADDC 2025: Seventh place for the MINI JCW Rally 3.0d
02/28/2025
- Ferreira establishes himself in the leading group
- De Mévius unlucky on the final day
The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, the second event of the 2025 World Rally-Raid Championship, was a promising one for the X-raid team. João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro secured seventh place overall in the MINI JCW Rally 3.0d. For Ferreira, this was not only his best result but also his first time competing in an Ultimate-class vehicle in Abu Dhabi. Guillaume de Mévius and Xavier Panseri, who were also consistently in the top 10 with their MINI JCW Rally 3.0i, ultimately had to settle for 29th place.
Ferreira is establishing himself as a regular contender among the front-runners. In his previous outings in Abu Dhabi, he had to go without strong results. This year, things were different: the young Portuguese driver finished four out of five stages in the top 10 – two of them in fourth place. This put him in fifth place overall – and within striking distance of fourth – at the start of the final stage. However, after about 40 kilometers, a hard impact broke a joint. Despite the time loss, Ferreira and Palmeiro managed to secure seventh place overall and collect valuable championship points. In the FIA standings, Ferreira is currently in ninth place after two of five events.
For Guillaume de Mévius, this rally was challenging in many ways. He was unable to rely on the skills of his usual navigator, Mathieu Baumel, with whom he competed in this year’s Dakar Rally. The Frenchman was seriously injured in a traffic accident and, as a result, had to have his right leg amputated. Baumel is still in the hospital. The entire X-raid team is thinking of him and hopes to see him back in action as soon as possible.
At short notice, Xavier Panseri took the co-driver seat next to De Mévius. The two had finished second together in the 2024 Dakar Rally. At the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, they had a strong chance of securing a top-10 finish, but technical issues on the final day dropped them back to 29th place.
João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro can now take a few days to recover before the Baja TT Escuderia CB, the second round of the Portuguese Offroad Championship, takes place in three weeks.
Quotes from the team
João Ferreira (MINI JCW Rally 3.0d): „The start of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge was really good. Unfortunately, we lost a lot of time on the last day. Without the incident, we could have finished the rally in fourth place. That’s frustrating. But at least we managed to take some points for the championship.“
Overall standings
1. N. Al-Attiyah / E. Boulanger – Dacia – 14h 26m 55s
2. L. Moraes / A. Monleon – Toyota – 14h 29m 23s
3. S. Quintero 7 D. Zenz – Toyota – 14h 38m 51s
4. J. Yacopini / D. Oliveras – Toyota – 14h 56m 48s
5. M. Guthrie / K. Walch – Ford – 14h 57m 57s
…
7. J. Ferreira / F. Palmeiro – MINI JCW Rally 3.0d – 15h 13m 55s
…
29. G. de Mévius / X. Panseri – MINI JCW Rally 3.0i – 29h 32m 44s
