After their last race together ended in disaster, Guillaume de Mévius and Xavier Panseri will join forces once more for the upcoming Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.

Panseri was de Mévius’ navigator when they finished runner-up at the 2024 Dakar Rally. However, the ADDC ended in a crash that resulted in a compressed vertebra for de Mévius. Mathieu Baumel became de Mévius’ co-driver for the rest of the season, while Panseri returned to his usual spot in the passenger’s seat of Fernando Álvarez’s Can-Am Maverick. The latter went on to finish runner-up in the FIA World Baja Cup overall standings, two years after he and Álvarez claimed the series’ T3 title.

Baumel was seriously injured in an accident in late January, two weeks after finishing 18th in Ultimate at Dakar alongside de Mévius to begin the 2025 W2RC. On Sunday, he revealed the injuries were substantial enough that his right leg had to be amputated, though he hopes to return to de Mévius’ side in 2026.

With Baumel unavailable, de Mévius decided to ask his old friend to work with him again. Alex Winocq, the navigator for X-raid teammate Guerlain Chicherit, was written down as his navigator on the ADDC’s initial entry list but X-raid confirmed Panseri would fill the role on Tuesday.

“The Frenchman is standing in for Mathieu Baumel, who is in hospital following a road accident,” reads a team statement.

Competing in the SSV class, Panseri and Álvarez had retired from the 2025 Dakar.

Featured image credit: Florent Gooden / DPPI