Yannick Panagiotis will try his hand at the Challenger class when he enters the Baja Aragón in late July, racing an Apache APH-03. In what has become his theme of sort, the hybrid UTV is colored olive drab with shark mouth decals at the front and airplane-style body panel stickers throughout the vehicle.

While Panagiotis is French, he has used a Flying Tigers-inspired livery on many of his race cars since 2022. The Flying Tigers, officially the First American Volunteer Group, were a cadre of American pilots who volunteered to fly for China against Japan in the months before the United States entered World War II. The unit was eventually absorbed into the 23d Fighter Group, whose aircraft continue to sport the design today.

The use of shark teeth for nose art predates the Flying Tigers; in fact, the Germans’ Zerstörergeschwader 76 was the first air wing to do so, then the Royal Air Force’s No. 112 Squadron picked it up as well. Of course, the AVG popularized the imagery, and Panagiotis explicitly credits the Americans with inspiring his livery.

He adopted the look starting at the 2022 Dakar Classic, wherein he took part with a FJ Protruck nicknamed “Pana Desert Force 1”; the truck won the first stage before he withdrew due to a positive COVID-19 test. Panagiotis put it on his Century CR6 for his debut in the main Dakar Rally the following year, though he bowed out from that too.

It’s currently used on his Toyota Land Cruiser HDJ100, which competes in historic cross-country rallies. The Land Cruiser finished fourth overall at the Merzouga 1000 Classic in April.

The shark teeth would also show up in disciplines beyond rally raid. It was his Chevrolet Camaro’s paint scheme in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series during the 2022 and 2023 seasons; Team FJ, who prepared his Protruck, is also the promoter of the Euro Series. In rallying, Panagiotis has other liveries too but has brought the Flying Tiger style with him for his Citroën C3 Rally2 in the French championship.

The Apache APH-03 is a hybrid T3 car developed by French manufacturer Apache Automotive. It placed 34th in Challenger at its Dakar Rally debut in January with Antoine Meo.

As she usually does, his wife Valérie Panagiotis will serve as navigator. The couple acquired the APH-03 in April.

The 2025 Baja España Aragón is scheduled for July 25–27.

Featured image credit: Yannick Panagiotis