It’s been a difficult two years for Guillaume de Mévius at X-raid, so much so that rejoining Overdrive Racing isn’t out of the realm of possibility. In an interview with Forbes Belgique, de Mévius discussed the struggles he’s faced with reliability since he became a Mini driver in late 2024.

De Mévius was coming off a runner-up finish at the 2024 Dakar Rally and victory in the Baja Aragón when he made the surprise decision to leave Overdrive for X-raid. Overdrive, which was founded by his father Grégoire and is currently Toyota Gazoo Racing’s lead partner in developing their 2026 Hilux, had signed Guillaume to a two-year deal in 2023 and was blindsided by the news.

For de Mévius, it seemed like the right call at the time. Despite the aforementioned success, he was never considered a Toyota driver since Overdrive is officially just a TGR client. Racing for X-raid, on the other hand, meant factory support from Mini.

The partnership seemed to work well early on as he finished third in his Mini debut at the 2024 Rallye du Maroc. However, he couldn’t carry that momentum into 2025. After finishing 17th at Dakar, his navigator Mathieu Baumel lost his leg in an accident and spent much of the year recovering. Mechanical issues then plagued him at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and South African Safari Rally. Things seemed to look up again when Baumel returned and the two finished runner-up at the Baja TT Sharish Gin to João Ferreira, who ironically went from Mini to Toyota.

January’s Dakar was another frustrating edition. Despite winning the first stage, the Mini was plagued by a myriad of vehicle problems that dropped him to a dismal 32nd in Ultimate. He didn’t race last week’s BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal, but was present to oversee his family’s G Rally Team.

“It’s very frustrating, but that’s the soul of rally raid: speed, endurance, navigation, and mechanical reliability. If even one of those elements is missing, it doesn’t work,” he told Forbes. “We haven’t been able to put it all together for two years now. With experience, we learn to handle this frustration. Rally raid has the benefit of allowing for longer careers. A disappointing Dakar doesn’t mean the end. That’s not the case in all disciplines. I’m not at a dead end.”

While the 31-year-old’s career is certainly far from dead, he was also frank about the issues at X-raid holding him back. One particular issue is that his Mini John Cooper Works Rally 3.0d, although not slow by any means, is outdated and doesn’t have the proper R&D work.

De Mévius stressed to Forbes that “I don’t regret my decision” to leave Overdrive, but he’s aware of the growing gap between them and X-raid.

“There was a project that, unfortunately, never materialized. If this project had come about at X-raid, my choice would have made sense,” he continued. “But promises haven’t been kept, and I found myself with an aging car; certainly still fast, but without teammates and without sufficient development.

“That said, nothing is definitive. You have to be open-minded in sports, including to walk back your decisions. A return to Overdrive is not out of the question.”

Featured image credit: Kin Marcin / Red Bull Content Pool