Safari Rally: Top-10 finish for the MINI JCW Rally 3.0i
05/25/2025
- Ninth place for De Mévius
- Successful W2RC debut for the Safari Rally
The South African Safari Rally celebrated its debut in the World Rally-Raid Championship. The savannah presented completely new terrain, offering many fresh impressions and experiences. The performance of the two X-raid MINI vehicles was very strong, but time penalties and other incidents prevented better results. Guillaume de Mévius and Xavier Panseri had a realistic chance of finishing in the top three with the MINI JCW Rally 3.0i. However, a controversial penalty from race control ruined their hopes. João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro had to retire early.
After the fourth and penultimate stage, the entire X-raid team was in high spirits. De Mévius and Panseri had secured a sensational second place and moved up to third in the overall standings. But then came the devastating news: a two-minute time penalty.
The system had detected several turbo pressure spikes during the fourth stage. Previously, the torque measurement system had switched to backup mode about 25 kilometers after the start – in this mode, the car runs with 20 kW less power. As a result, there were momentary peaks in the boost curve, causing De Mévius to briefly exceed the allowed boost pressure for just a few milliseconds. However, this did not provide any performance advantage.
In the final stage, De Mévius lost more time and ultimately finished ninth overall at the Safari Rally.
For Ferreira and Palmeiro, the rally in South Africa ended on the third day. During the second stage, they returned to the team early. A broken chassis due to an incident forced them to retire. Although the team attempted to repair the damage, the regulations thwarted their efforts. Since the second and third stages were part of the marathon leg, Ferreira was unable to complete either stage. According to the rules, a driver who does not finish two consecutive stages is not allowed to continue.
The next event of the W2RC will be the BP Ultimate Rally Raid Portugal in September.
Quotes from the team
Guillaume de Mévius (MINI JCW Rally 3.0i): “The last stage stage was short but tough. I really enjoyed the rally itself. Our performance was strong, and we were able to show that we are fast. Unfortunately, we received a time penalty at the beginning, which set us back. It wasn’t our best outing, but I’m confident we have a lot more potential.”
Overall standings
1. H. Lategan / B. Cummings – Toyota – 12h 10m 42s
2. S. Loeb / F. Lurquin – Dacia – 12h 12m 21s
3. L. Moraes / A. Monleon – Toyota – 12h 13m 37s
4. G. Woolridge / B. Dreyer – Ford – 12h 15m 30s
5. C. Sainz / L. Cruz – Ford – 12h 15m 57s
…
9. G. de Mévius / X. Panseri – MINI JCW Rally 3.0i – 12h 22m 26s
