Mega Mathieu Baumel – A Dakar Hero’s Return to Glory

Baumel’s life changed significantly just a few days after the end of the 2025 Dakar Rally. He stopped to help a crew competing in the Monte Carlo Rally Historique. While doing so he was struck by another car… “Everything happened very fast. I stopped on the side of the road to assist some people who had a broken-down car when another car just hit us. The impact resulted in severe body injuries.”

He was transported to hospital where he was placed in an induced coma. Doctors tried their best to save both his broken legs. Ultimately he was given the choice and opted to amputate his right leg as it would, in all likelihood, end up being non-functioning. “Due to the severity of the injuries, I decided to amputate my right leg. My left leg has a polytrauma but has been save(d) by doctors.”

Living the Ethos

Since day one he had one goal: to return to Dakar. “I always said I wanted to come back to the Dakar. Looking back now, saying that as early as February was wildly optimistic, because at that point I didn’t even know whether I would end up with one leg or two, but that belief is what got me out of bed every morning, kept the flame of hope burning and gave me the strength to put the work in.”

Before the rally he explained the situation with regards to new challenges. “Inside the car, I’m seated with just one leg. Once I’m strapped in, it barely changes a thing. Where it gets trickier is when you have the usual rally-raid headaches, like punctures. We know it’s going to cost us some time, but the way we operate has evolved and Guillaume takes on a bit more! A few dozen seconds aren’t gonna stop us. There are still question marks, especially in the sand.”

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A New Approach

“Going fast isn’t the be-all, end-all of rally raids. Having the best navigator might cost me some time here and there, but being smarter about avoiding punctures or getting stuck in the sand can actually be a net gain. Finding someone on Mathieu’s level is far from easy, so sticking with him was clearly the sensible choice. Overall, I’ll approach the race from a different perspective, which is good for rally raids. At any rate, I’ve never felt I’m losing time by keeping Mathieu at my side.”

Prescient Words

Baumel stepped onto the starting platform in Saudi Arabia to a rousing round of applause from fellow racers and organisers alike. Making it to the start represented overcoming a major hurdle, but he had already set another target. “Saying we want to win this would be too optimistic. Cracking the top five would be a great way to get back in the game. A more realistic proposition, which I hope we’ll be able to achieve soon, is a stage win. It would be a personal victory for me, and we owe it to the team.”