With Mathieu Baumel recovering from serious injuries he sustained last month, Alex Winocq has been tapped to be Guillaume de Mévius’ navigator for the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.

Baumel was hit by a Renault Clio while helping an Alfa Romeo that had broken down at the start of the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique in Reims. According to a report fron Journal L’Union, The Clio’s driver, a 73-year-old woman, and a 70-year-old male passenger suffered minor injuries and the former was taken to the hospital for evaluation; alcohol and drug testing yielded negative results.

On the other hand, Baumel sustained serious fractures to his legs and was put in a medically induced coma in the hospital. He eventually awakened, and posted an Instagram Story on Friday to celebrate Valentine’s Day. The family hopes to transfer him to Munich for further operation.

The accident occurred two weeks after Baumel and de Mévius finished 18th in class at the Dakar Rally. Winocq and his driver Guerlain Chicherit retired after crashing in Stage #6.

Chicherit and de Mévius are teammates at X-raid Team, having worked together since they were at Overdrive Racing in 2024. Although both are registered for the World Rally-Raid Championship, Chicherit is not racing Abu Dhabi as he focuses on business obligations as a hotelier. This left Winocq available, and therefore a natural candidate to replace Baumel in the interim.

De Mévius and Winocq won’t be taking on Round #2 as the sole X-raid car, of course, as João Ferreira is also entered.

UPDATE (February 18): X-raid has announced Xavier Panseri will be de Mévius’ navigator for Abu Dhabi.

Featured image credit: Julien Delfosse / DPPI