The Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team’s Alessandro Botturi, in partnership with Riders for Health (powered by Two Wheels for Life), fought through a fever to claim victory in the longest special stage of the Africa Eco Race and regain the lead of the general classification.
The 16th edition of the Africa Eco Race is turning into an epic two-way battle for victory between Botturi and Jacopo Cerutti, with the duo once more in a league of their own on Stage 4 after Pol Tarrés was forced to withdraw from the race because of a crash on the second stage. Botturi came into Stage 4 trailing his main rival in the overall standings by one minute and 22 seconds, with the 48-year-old determined to make up time during one of the most demanding stages of the rally.
Ahead of the Italian was a 486-kilometre special consisting of fast rocky tracks, soft sand, and dunes as the rally moved from Touzgui, leaving the Atlas Mountains behind, to Laayoune, deeper into the Saharan desert. Adding to the challenging nature of the stage was the fact that Botturi woke up in the morning suffering from a fever and not feeling 100%.
Despite this, the Italian set an impressive pace on his Ténéré World Raid GYTR or to close the three-minute gap and catch Cerutti by the 210 km mark. From there until the end of the stage he cleverly stayed in the trails of Cerutti, using him as a navigational aid to conserve energy, as Botturi used all of his experience to execute the perfect strategy.
He eventually finished the epic stage in a time of five hours, 24 minutes and 36 seconds, making up two minutes and 50 seconds on Cerutti, to retake the general classification lead with a combined time of 16 hours and 30 seconds, opening up a one minute and 28-second advantage over his rival, also on a twin-cylinder adventure bike. While the fight for victory remains extremely close, they now enjoy a gap of over one hour and 30 minutes to the next best rider, with the duo pulling further away from their rivals on 450cc single-cylinder prototype bikes with each stage.
Next for Botturi and the Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team is Stage 5, the final one in Morocco before the rest day. It consists of a 74 km liaison to the start of a 431 km special that starts in the dunes of the southern Moroccan desert before moving onto fast, flowing tracks over vast flat stretches of firm sand dotted with camel grass. There then follows a 124 km liaison to the bivouac in Dakhla, where competitors will enjoy a day off from the racing action before resuming on the 6th of January with the first stage of the Mauritanian leg of the rally.
Alessandro Botturi – P1 Overall – 16h00m30s
Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team
“I am thrilled to have won today’s stage and retaken the lead. I was not feeling well this morning and had a fever, so it was great to emerge victorious from the rally’s longest stage. I am enjoying the battle with Jacopo, and the momentum seems to swing between us each day. It is a close fight. Tomorrow, I will be leading out, so it will be trickier. Still, our target is to get to rest the day without making any mistakes and leading the general classification before we can recover and get some rest in Dakhla.”
Marc Bourgeois
Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team – Team Manager
“It was a very tough stage today, especially as Alessandro was not feeling well this morning with a fever, so we are very proud of him for winning. Our aim was to try and catch Cerutti, and he managed to do that before the halfway point of the stage, which is even more impressive due to the fact there is a three-minute gap between the riders when they set off, so it is even tougher to hunt down the bike in front of you. He used all of his experience today to make up the time, and it is turning into a great battle between the two. We hold the advantage now, but Alessandro will have to lead out tomorrow, so he needs to rest and try and recover before the fifth stage, as after that, we will have a well-deserved rest day in Dakhla to give him more time to recuperate.”
