Guillaume de Mévius leaves Toyota and moves to Mini

Little bomb in the world of rally-raid. While it was believed that Guillaume de Mévius was linked, for a good while, to the official team Toyota in rally-raid, here he is leaving for the team led by Sven Quandt. Indeed, it is on a Mini that the Belgian, 2nd in the Dakar last January, is registered for the next Rally of Morocco, the usual dress rehearsal before the Dakar. He has even signed a three-year contract with the German team.

We were unable to reach Guillaume de Mévius at the time of writing. However, Jean-Marc Fortin, the boss of Overdrive, is quite talkative on the subject… "I am as surprised as I am disappointed", says the former teammate of… Grégoire (the father, Editor’s note) of Mévius.

"Toyota's management was banking heavily on this promising young Belgian. With a teammate of Mathieu Baumel's calibre at his side, I am convinced that Guillaume could win the Dakar in 2025 or 2026. A two-year contract was ready. All the terms had been discussed. All he had to do was sign. Unfortunately, he sent me a terse text message on Monday telling me he had opted for Mini. Since then, I have tried to call him but he has never answered me. Radio silence."

A surprising choice for De Mévius

On the sporting front, indeed, this choice is surprising to say the least. We know the expertise of Toyota and Overdrive in rally-raid (with, in particular, a triple victory in the Dakar with Nasser Al-Attiyah). And even if Sven Quandt's team has triumphed in the most famous of rally-raids seven times (six times with Mini, once last January with Audi), we know that this car is at the end of development and should not worry the official structures in the Saudi desert next January.

"Our collaboration with the technicians responsible for the endurance program is increasingly strong", continues Fortin. "In a few days, our Hilux in Dakar version will go to the wind tunnel in Cologne, where the team that lines up the Toyota prototypes is based WEC. Furthermore, we will also be fielding some very promising young wolves in the next Dakar.”

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