4-time Dakar Rally-winning navigator Mathieu Baumel has returned to the occasion this yr, simply 11 months after a severe accident and the amputation of his proper leg.
Baumel was on his technique to Rally Monte Carlo in the beginning of 2025 when he was struck by a car after stopping to assist stranded motorists.
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The crash triggered such extreme accidents to his proper leg that it needed to be amputated. He did retain his left leg, though it required three separate operations.
Within the aftermath of the accident, Baumel instantly made it clear that he had no intention of ending his profession as a navigator due to the amputation.
The Frenchman backed up these phrases by arriving in Yanbu for the beginning of the 2026 Dakar, simply 11 months after the incident. He was greeted with applause in the course of the press convention forward of Saturday’s prologue, the place he spoke concerning the troublesome street he had travelled over the previous yr.
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“To start with, you possibly can’t think about how pleased I’m to be right here with you, the Dakar household,” Baumel mentioned. “The previous 11 months have clearly been very troublesome, particularly in the beginning, while you don’t know if you’ll die – as a result of that was the state of affairs.
“We additionally didn’t know whether or not one leg or each legs would have to be amputated. Ultimately, I’ve saved one leg that isn’t in good form, but it surely’s not unhealthy. On the best facet, you possibly can see that I now have a pleasant prosthesis.”
From the very begin of his rehabilitation, Baumel had set participation within the 2026 Dakar alongside Guillaume de Mevius as his final purpose, though the journey was removed from simple.
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“Ultimately, it was made potential because of everybody: the medical workers, my pal Guillaume, who was there from the very starting, and naturally Sven [Quandt, X-raid CEO]. That’s why I’m right here at present. I’m actually not in precisely the identical situation as earlier than, however along with Guillaume, Sven and your entire X-Raid group, we’ve executed job to reach right here with a cushty and quick automobile. In that sense, we’re pleased.”
#222 X-Raid Mini JCW Mini: Guillaume De Mevius, Mathieu Baumel
#222 X-Raid Mini JCW Mini: Guillaume De Mevius, Mathieu Baumel
De Mevius was happy to have Baumel as his navigator for the second consecutive yr within the Dakar.
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“I’m very proud and really pleased to be right here,” the Belgian mentioned in the course of the press convention. “He did all the things to be right here, and I’m extraordinarily happy with that. I’m additionally very proud to be his driver and to face right here along with him in entrance of you. Now I wish to carry out and race identical to final yr, so nothing modifications within the automobile. We’re going to push simply as laborious and attempt to beat everybody.”
Baumel and De Mevius must make some changes in sure areas because of the former’s situation.
“Guillaume and I additionally did job getting ready for conditions the place we would have bother with a puncture, or if now we have to get out and in of the automobile,” Baumel defined. “In fact, it’s not the identical as earlier than, however we all know what we have to do and do it. So we’re prepared to begin this Dakar.”
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Regardless of the troublesome yr behind him, the navigator is proud merely to be on the beginning line. “For me, it’s already a primary victory to be right here with you and to have the ability to begin. After that, we’ll see what we are able to do.”
Baumel fashioned a profitable partnership with Nasser Al-Attiyah, guiding the Qatari to 4 of his 5 Dakar wins. The pair parted methods after the 2024 Dakar Rally, with Baumel briefly working with Guerlain Chicherit earlier than becoming a member of De Mevius as his navigator.
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